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THE GENERAL 

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY : 

CONTAINING 
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

LIVES AND WRITINGS 

OF THE 

MOST EMINENT PERSONS 

IN EVERY NATION; 

PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH; 
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

A NEW EDITION, 

REVISED AND ENLARGED BY 

ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A. 
VOL. XL 



LONDONi 

rniNTED FOR J. NICHOLS AND SON ; F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON ; T. rAYNK ; 
OTRIDGE AND SON ; G. AND W. NICOL ; WILKIE AND ROBINSON ; S. WALKER ; 
W. LEA; W. LOWNDES; WHITE, COCHRANE, AND CO.; J. DEIGHTON; 
T. EGERTON ; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.; J. CARPENTER; LONGMAN, 
HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN; CADELL AND DAVIES ; C. LAW ; J. BOOKER ; 
J. CUTHELL ; CLARKE AND SONS; J. AND A. ARCH; J. HARRIS; BLACK, 
TARRY, AND CO,; J. BOOTH ; J. MAWMAN ; GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER; 
R. H. EVANS; J. HATCHARD; J. HARDING; R. BALDWIN J J. MURRAY J 
i. JOHNSON AND CO. ; E. BENTLEY ; AND J. FAULDER. 

1813. 



A NEW AND GENERAL 



BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 



'RTCHTON (James), was a Scotch gentleman, who 
lived in the sixteenth century, and has furnished a sort of 
biographical romance. His endowments both of body and 
mind were esteemed so great, that he obtained the appel- 
lation of " The admirable Crichton,"'and by that title he 
has continued to be distinguished down to the present day. 
The accounts given of his abilities and attainments are 
indeed so wonderful, that they se&m scarcely to be credi- 
ble ; and many persons have been disposed to consider 
them as almost entirely fabulous, though they have been 
delivered with the utmost confidence, and without any 
degree of hesitation, by various writers. The time of 
Crichton's birth is said, by the generality of authors, to 
have been in 1551 ; but according to lord Buchan, it ap- 
pears from several circumstances, that he was born in the 
month of August, 15G0. His father was Robert Crichton 
of EUiock in the county of Perth, and lord advocate of 
Scotland in queen IVJary's reign, from 1561 to 1573 ; part 
of which time he held that office in conjunction with 
Spens of Condie. The mother of James Crichton was 
Ehzabeth Stuart, the only daughter of sir James Stuart of 
Beath, who was a descendant of Robert duke of Albany, 
the third son of king Robert H. by Elizabeth Muir, or 
More, as she is commonly called. It is hence evident, that 
when the admirable Crichton boasted, as he did abroad, 
that he was sprung from Scottish kings, he said nothing 
but what was agreeable to truth. Nevertheless, Thoihas 
Dempster, who sufficiently amplifies hi« praises ia other 
Vol, XL B 



2 CRICHTON. 

respects, passes a severe censure upon liim on this ac- 
count ; which is the more remarkable, as Dempster lived 
so near the time, and was well acquainted with the genea- 
logies of the great families of Scotland. James Crichton 
is said to have received his granmiatical edu'. atioii at Perth, 
and to have studied philosophy in the university of St. 
Andrew. His tutor in that university was Mr. John 
Rutherford, a professor at that time famous for l^.is learn- 
ing, and who distinguished himself by writing four books 
on Aristotle's Logic, and a commentary on his Poetics. 
But nothing, according to Mackenzie, can give us a 
higher idea of Rutherford's worth and merit, than his be- 
ing master of that wonder and prodigy of his age, the 
great and admirable Crichton. However, it is not to this 
professor alone that the honour is ascribed of having formed 
so extraordinary a character. There are others who may 
put in their claim to a share in the same glory ; for Aldus 
Manutius, who calls Crichton first cousin to the king, says 
that he was educated, along with his majesty, under Bu- 
chanan, Hepburn, and Robertson, as well as Rutherford. 
Indeed, whatever might be the natural force of his genius, 
many masters must have been necessary, in order to his 
acquiring such a variety of attainments as he is represented 
to have possessed. For it is related, that he had scarcely 
reached the twentieth year of his age, wheiV he had run 
through the whole circle of the sciences, and could speak 
and write to perfection in ten different languages. Nor 
was this all ; for he had likewise improved himself to the 
highest degree in riding, dancing, and singing, and in 
playing upon all sorts of instruments. Crichton, being 
thus accomplished, went abroad upon his travels, and is 
said to have gone to Paris ; of his transactions at which 
j)lace the following account is given. He caused six pla- 
cards to be fixed on the gates of the schools, halls, and 
colleges belonging to the university, and on the pillars 
and posts before the houses of the most renowned men for 
literature in the city, inviting all those who were well 
versed in any art or science to dispute with him in the 
college of Navarre, that day six weeks, by nine o'clock in 
the morning, where he would attend tliem, and be ready 
to answer to whatever should be proposed to him in any 
art or science, and in any of these twelve languages, He- 
brew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Ita- 
lian, English, Dutch, Flemish, and Sclavonian j and this 



C R I C H T O N. $ 

either in verse or prose, at the discretion of the disputant. 
During this whole time, instead of closel}' applying to his 
studies, he regarded nothing but hunting, hawking, tilting, 
vaulting, riding of a well-managed horse, tossing the pike, 
handling the muscjuet, and other military feats; or else he 
employed himself in domestic games, such as balls, con- 
certs of music, vocal and instrumental; cards, dice, tennis, 
and other diversions of youth. This conduct so provoked 
the students of the university, that, beneath the placard 
that was Hxed on the Navarre gate, they caused the fol- 
lowing words to be written : " If you would meet with this 
monster of {jerfection, to search for him either in the ta- 
vern or the brothel is the readiest way to find him." Ne- 
vertheless, when the day appointed arrived, Crichton ap- 
peared in the college of Navarre, and acquitted himself 
beyond expression in the disputation, which lasted from 
nine in the morning till six at night. At length, the presi- 
dent, after extolling him highly for the many rare and 
excellent endowments which God and nature had bestowed 
upon him, rose from his chair ; and, accompanied by four 
of the most eminent professors of the university, gave hirn 
a diamond ring and a purse full of gold, as a testimony of 
their approbation and I'avour. The whole ended with the 
repeated acclamations and huzzas of the spectators ; and 
henceforward our young disputant was called " The ad- 
mirable Crichton." It is added, that he was so little 
fatigued with the dispute, that he went the very next day 
to the Louvre, where he had a match'at tilting, an exer- 
cise then in great vogue ; and, in presence of some princes 
of the court of France, and a great many ladies, carried 
away the ring fifteen times successively, and broke as many 
lances on the Jjaracen, whatever that might be ; probably 
a sort of mark. 

The next account we have of Crichton is, that he went 
to Rome, where he fixed a ])lacard in all the eminent 
places of the city, in the following terms : " Nos Jacobus 
Crichtonus, Scotus, cuicunque rei propositae ex improviso 
respondebimus." In a city which abounded in wit, this 
bold challenge, to answer to any question that could be 
proposed to him, without his being previously advertised 
of it, could not escape the ridicule of a pasquinade. It is 
said, however, that being nowise discouraged, he appeared 
at the time and place appointed, and that, in presence of 
the pope, many cardinals, bishops, and doctors of divi- 

B 2 



4 CRICHTON. 

nity, and pr6f6Ssors in all the sciences, he displayed such 
wonderful ptoofs of his universal knowledge, that he ex- 
cited no less surprise than he had done at Paris. Bocca- 
lini, who was then at Rome, gives something of a different 
relation of the matter. According to this author, the pas- 
quinade against Crichton, which was to the following ef- 
fect, " And he that will see it, let him go to the sign of 
the Falcon, and it shall be shewn," made such an impres- 
sion upon him, that he left a place where he had been so 
grossly affronted as to be put upo-n a level with jugglers 
and mountebanks. From Rome he went to Venice, at his 
approach to which city he appears to have been in consi- 
derable distress, of mind at least, if not with regard to 
external circumstances. This is evident from the follow- 
ing lines of his poem, *' In suum ad urbem Venetam ap- 
pulsum :'' 

" Saep^ meo animo casus meditabar iniquos, 
Saipe humectabam guttis stillantibus era." 

The chief design of Crichton in this poem was to obtain a 
favourable reception at Venice, and particularly from Al- 
dus Manutius, whose praises he celebrates in very high 
strains. When he presented his verses to Manutius, that 
critic was strack with a very agreeable surprise ; and 
judged, from the performance, that the author of it must 
be a person of extraordinary genius. Upon discoursing 
with the stranger, he was filled with admiration ; and, 
finding him to be skilled in every subject, he introduced 
him to the acquaintance of the principal men of learning 
and note in Venice. Here he contracted an intimate 
friendship not only with Aldus Manutius, but with Lau- 
rentius Massa, Spei'o Speronius, Johannes Donatus, and 
various other learned persons, to whom he presented seve- 
ral poems in commendation of the city and university. 
Three of Crichton's odes, one addressed to Aldus Manu- 
tius, and another to Laurentius Massa, and a third to Jo- 
hannes Donatus, are still preserved; but are certainly not 
the productions either of an extraordinary genius, or a cor- 
rect writer. At length he was introduced to the doge and 
senate ; in whose presence he made a speech, whicli was 
accompanied with such beauty of eloquence, and such 
grace of person and manner, that he received the thanks 
of that illustrious body ; and nothing was talked of through 
the whole city but this rara in terris avis, this prodigy of 
nAture. He held likewise disputations on the subjects of 



CRICHTON. $ 

theolo[ry, philosophy, and mathematics, before the most 
eminent professors, and large multitudes of people. His 
reputation was so great, that the desire of seeing and hear- 
ing him brought together a vast concourse of persons from 
different quarters to Venice. It may be collected from 
Manutius, that tl^e time in which Crichton exhibited these 
demonstrations of his abilities, was in the year 1580. 
During his residence at Venice, he fell into a bad state of 
iiealth, which continued for the space of four months, and 
before he was perfectly recovered, he went, by the advice 
of his friends, to Padua, the university of which city was 
at that time in great reputation. The day after his arrival, 
there was a meeting of all the learned men of the place, 
at the house of Jacobus Aloj'sius Cornelius ; when Crich- 
ton opened the assembly with an extemporary poem in 
praise of the city, the university, and the company who 
had honoured him with their presence. After this, he dis- 
puted for six hours with the most celebrated professors, on 
various subjects of learning; and he exposed, in particu- 
lar, the errors of Aristotle, and his commentators, with so 
much solidity and acuteness, and, at the same time, with 
so much modesty, that he excited universal admiration. 
In conclusion, he delivered, extempore, an oration in 
praise of ignorance, which was conducted with such inge- 
nuity and elegance, that his hearers were astonished. This 
display of Crichton's talents was on the 14th of March, 
1581. Soon after, he appointed another day for disputa- 
tion at the palace of the bishop of Padua ; not for the pur- 
pose of affording higher proofs of his abilities, for that 
could not possibly be done, but in compliance with the 
earnest solicitations of some persons, who were not present 
at the former assembly. However, several circumstances 
occurred, which prevented this meeting from taking place. 
Such is the account of ManTitius ; but Imperialis relates, 
that he was informed by his father, who was present upon 
the occasion, that Crichton was opposed by Archantrelus 
Mercenarius, a famous philosopher, and that he acquitted 
himself so well as to obtain the approbation of a very ho- 
nourable company, and even of his antagonist himself. 
Amidst the discourses which were occasioned by our youno- 
Scotchman's exploits, and the high applauses that were 
bestowed on his genius and attainments, there were somd 
persons who endeavoured to detract from his merit. For 
ever, therefore, to confound these invidious impugners of 



6 CRICHTON. 

his talents, he caused a paper to be fixed on the gates of 
St. John and 8t. Paul's churches, in which he offered to 
prove before the university, that the errors of Aristotle, 
and of all his followers, were almost innumerable ; and that 
the latter had failed, both in explaining their master's 
meaning, and in treating on theological subjects. He 
promised likewise to refute the dreams of certain mathe- 
matical professors; to dispute in all the sciences; and to 
answer to whatever should be proposed to him, or objected 
aoainst him. All this he enoaj?:ed to do, either in the 
common logical way, or by numbers and mathematical 
figures, or in an hundred sorts of verses, at the option of 
his opponents. According to Manutius, Crichton sustain- 
ed this contest without fatigue, for three days; during 
which time he supported his credit, and maintained his 
propositions, with such spirit and energy, that, from an 
unusual concourse of people, he obtained acclamations and 
praises, than which none more magnificent were ever heard 
by men. 

The next account we have of Crichton, and which ap- 
pears to have been transmitted, through sir Thomas Urqu- 
hart, to later biographers, is of an extraordinary instance 
of bodily courage and skill. It is said, that at Mantua 
there was at this time a gladiator, who had foiled, in his 
travels, the most famous fencers in Europe, and had lately 
killed three persons who had entered the lists with him. 
The duke of Mantua was much grieved at having granted 
this man his protection, as he found it to be attended with 
such fatal consequences. Crichton, being informed of his 
highness's concern, offered his service, not oidy to drive 
the murderer from Mantua, but from Italy, and to fight 
him for fifteen hundred pistoles. Though the duke was 
unwilling to expose such an accomplished gentleman to so 
great a hazard, yet, relying upon the report he had heard 
of his warlike achievements, he agreed to the proposal ; 
and, the time and place being appointed, the whole court 
attended to behold the performance. At the beginning 
of the combat, Crichton stood only on his defence; while 
the Italian made his attack with such eagerness and fury, 
that, having over- acted himself, he began to grow weary. 
Our young Scotchman now seized the opportunity of at- 
facking his antagonist in return ; which he did with so 
much dexterity and vigour, that he ran him through the 
body in three different places, of which wounds he imme- 



C R I C H T O N. 



diately died. The acclamations of the spectators were 
loud and extraordinary upon this occasion ; and it was 
acknowledged by all of them, that they had never seen art 
grace nature, or nature second the precepts of art, in so 
lively a manner as thev had beheld these two thin<'^s ac- 
complished on that day. To crown the glory of the action, 
Crichton bestowed the prize of his victory upon the wi- 
dows of the three persons who had lost their lives in fight- 
ing with the gladiator. It is asserted, that, in consequence 
of this, and liis other wonderful performances, the duke of 
Mantua made choice of him for preceptor to his son V^in- 
centio di Gonzaga, who is represented as being of a riotous 
temper and a dissolute life. The appointment was highly 
pleasing to the court. Crichton, to testify his gratitude to 
his friends and benefactors, and to contribute to their di- 
version, framed, we are told, a comedy, wherein he ex- 
posed and ridiculed all the weaknesses and failures of the 
several employments in which men are engaged. This 
composition was regarded as one of the most ingenious 
satires that was ever made upon mankind. But the most 
astonishing part of the story is, that Crichton sustained 
fifteen characters in the representation of his own play. 
Among the rest, he acted the divine, the philosopher, the 
lawyer, the mathematician, the physician, and the soldier, 
with such inimitable grace, that every time he appeared 
upon the stage he seemed to be a different person *. 



* This may be no improper place to 
give our readers a specimen of I lie style 
of sir Thomas Urqiiliart, one of Crich- 
ton's biographers, a style which, while 
it has been censured bj' modern cri- 
tics, must be allowed a very happy 
imitation of the romances which turned 
don Quixote's brain, and is no less 
happily employed on a hero whose 
exploits are ('i)ually romantic. Speak- 
ing of the Gfteen characters played 
by Crichton, sir Thomas says, " Sum- 
moning- all his spirits together, whi -h 
never failed to be ready at t!,e <'all of 
so worthy a commander, he did, hy 
their assistance, so cougloiTierale, 
shuffle, mix, ami interlace the gestures, 
inclinations, actions, and very tones of 
the speech of those lifiet^n several sorts 
of men whose carriages he did per- 
sonate, into au inestimahle oilapodrida 
©f immaterial morsels of divers kinds, 
suitable to the very Arnbrosian relish 
of the lieliconiaa iiymplis, that in the 



peripetia of this drammatical cxercita- 
tion, by the inchanted transportation 
of the eyes and eares of its specta- 
bundai auditorie, one would have 
sworne that they all had looked with 
mulliplyii)^ glasses, and that (like 
that aiis;el in the Scripture, whose voice 
was said to be like the voice of a mul- 
titude) they heard in him alone the 
promiscuous speech of fifieen several 
actors ; by the various ravishmmts of 
the excellencies whereof, in thefrolick- 
ni'ss of i jocund straiiie hevond expec- 
tation, the logofaciuaied spirit- of the 
beholding hearers and aucicularie 
spectators, were so on a sudden seazed 
upon in their risible faculties of the 
soul, and all their vital motions so 
universally aflecied in this extrtmitie 
of agitation, that to avoid the inevita- 
ble charmes of his intoxicating ejacu- 
lations, and the accumulative influ- 
ences of so powerfull a transportation, 
one wf my lady dutchess chief maids of 



8 CRICHTON. 

From being the principal actor in a comedy, Criciiton 
soon became the subject of a dreadful tragedy. One night, 
during the time of carnival, as he was walking along the 
streets of Mantua, and playing upon his guitar, he was 
attacked by half a dozen people in masks. The assailants 
found that they had no ordinary person to deal with ; for 
they were not able to maintain their ground against him. 
In the issue, the leader of the company, being disarmed, 
pulled off his mask, and begged his life, telling him that 
he was the prince his pupil. Crichton immediately fell on 
his knees, and expressed his concern for his mistake ; al- 
leging, that what he had done was only in his own de- 
fence, and that if Gonzaga had any design upon his life 
he might always be master of it. Then, taking his own 
sword by the point, he presented it to the prince, who 
immediately received it, and was so irritated by the affront 
which he thouofht he had sustained in being foiled with all 
his attendants, that he instantly ran Crichton through the 
heart. Various have been the conjectures concerning the 
motives which could induce Vincentio di Gonzaga to be 
guilty of so ungenerous and brutal an action. Some have 
ascribed it to jealousy, asserting that he suspected Crich- 
ton to be more in favour than himself with a lady whom he 
passionately loved ; and sir Thomas Urquhart has told a 
story upon this head which is extravagant and ridiculous in 
the highest degree. Others, with greater probability, re- 
present the whole transaction as the result of a drunken 
frolic ; and it is uncertain, according to In)perialis, whether 
the meeting of the prince and Crichton was by accident or 
design. However, it is agreed on all hands, that Crichton 
lost his life in this rencontre. The time of his decease is 

honour, by tlie veheniencie of the the ineffable extasle of an overmas- 
shock of those incomprehensible rap- tered apprehension, fell back in a 
tnres, burst forth into a laughter, to swown, without the appearance of any 
the rupture of a vcine in her body ; other life into her, then what by the 
and another young lady, by the irre- most refined wits of theological specu- 
sistible viiilence of the pleasure un- lators is conceived to be exerced by 
awares infused, where the tender re- the purest parts of the separated en- 
ceptibilitie of her loo too tickled fancie telechies of blessed saints in Iheir sub- 
was least able to hold out, so unpro- liinest conversations with the celestial 
videdly was surprised, that with no hierarchies : this accident procured 
less impetuositie of ridihundal passion the incoming of an apolhecarie with 
then (as hath been told) occasioned a restoratives, as the other did that of a 
fracture in the other young ladle's surgeon, with consolidative medica- 
moilestie, she, not able longer to sup- mt nts." See Sir John Hawkins's Life 
port the well beloved burthen of so of Johnson, and Urquharl's Tracts, 
excessive delight, and intransing joys p. 71 — 76. 
oftiuch mercurial exhilarations, tbrouj^li 



CRICHTON. 9 

said, by the generality of his biographers, to have been in 
the beginning of July 158a ; but lord Biichan, most 
iikely in consequence of a more accurate inquiry, fixes it 
to the same month in the preceding year. 1 here is a dif- 
ference likewise with regard to the period of life at which 
Crichton died. The common accounts declare that he was 
killed in the thirty -second year of his age; but Jmperialis 
asserts that he was only in his twenty-second when that 
calamitous event took place ; and this fact is confirmed by 
lord Buchan. Criehton's tragical end excited a very great 
and General lamentation. If the foolish ravinsfs of sir 
Thomas Urquhart are to be credited, the whole court of 
Mantua went three quarters of a year into mourning for 
him ; the epitaphs and elegies that were composed upon 
his death, and stuck upon his hearse, would exceed, if 
Ci)llected, the bulk of Homer's works ; and, for a long 
time afterwards, his picture was to be seen in most of the 
bed-chambers and galleries of the Italian nobilit}', repre- 
senting him on horseback, with a lance in one hand and a 
book in the other. From all this wonderful account we 
can only infe.-, with any degree of confidence, that Crich- 
ton was a youth of such lively parts as excited great pre- 
sent admiration, and high expectations with regard to his 
future attainments. He appears to have had a fine person, 
to have been adroit in his bodily exercises, to have pos- 
sessed a peculiar facility in learning languages, to have 
enjoyed a rt-markably quick and retentive memory, and to 
have excelled in a power of declamation, a fluency of 
speech, and a readiness of reply. His knowledge likewise 
was probably very uncommon for his years; and this, in 
conjunction with his other qualities, enabled him to shine 
in public disputation. But whether his knowledge were ac- 
curate or profound, may justly be questioned; and it may 
equally be doubted whether he would have arisen to any 
extraordinary degree of eminence in the literary world, 
which, however, his early and untimely death prevented 
from being brought to the test of experiment. * 

CRIGHTON, or CREIGHTON (Robert), bishop of 
Bath and Wells, was born of an ancient family at Dunkeld, 
in Scotland, in 1593, and was educated at Westminster 
school, wiience in 1613 he was elected to Trinity college, 

' Biop. Brit, principally from a MS. drawn up by the earl of Buchan.— 

Miickenzie's Scots Writers, &c. &.c. 



10 C R I G H T O N. 

Cambridge, where he took his degrees in arts, and was 
chosen Greek professor, and university orator. In 1632 
he was made treasurer of the cathedral of Wells, and was 
also canon residentiary, prebendary of Taunton, and had a 
living in Somersetshire. In 1637 he was admitted to the 
degree of D. D. and, as reported, was made dean of St. 
Burian, in Cornwall, but this seems doubtful. In the 
beginning of the rebellion, Dr. Crighton's loyalty en- 
dangered his person and propert}', and to save the former 
lie joined the king's troops at Oxford, But from this place 
he was obliged afterwards to escape into Cornwall, in the 
dress of a day-labourer, and contrived to go to Charles II. 
abroad, who employed him as his chaplain, and bestowed 
on him the deanery of Wells, of which he took possession 
at the restoration. In 1670 he was promoted to the bishop- 
ric of Bath and Wells, which he held until his death Nov. 
21, 1672. He was accounted a man of much learning, and 
in the discharge of his duty as a preacher, reproved the 
vices of the court with great boldness and plainness. His 
only publication was a translation from Greek into Latin, of 
Sylvester Syguropolus's history of the council of Florence, 
Hague, 1660, fol. which was animadverted upon by Leo 
Allatius, to whom the bishop wrote an answer. Wood says 
he has some sermons in print. His son, who was chanter 
of Wells, published a volume of Sermons in 1720. * 

CRILLON (Louis de Berthon de), of an illustrious 
family of Italy, established in the comtat Venais^in, knight 
of Malta, and one of the greatest generals of his age, was 
born in 1541, and entered into the service in 1557. At 
the age of fifteen he was at the siege of Calais, and con- 
tributed greatly to the taking of that place, by a brilliant 
action that brought him to the notice of Henry II. He 
afterwards signalized himself aj^ainst the <Hu<)[uenots, or 
protestants, at the battles of Dreux, of Jarnac, and of 
Moncontour, in 1562, 1568, and 1569. The youthful hero 
so greatly distinguished himself in his caravans, especially 
at the battle of Lepanto in 1571, that he was made choice 
of, though wounded, to carry the news of the victory to 
the pope and to the king of France. We find him two 
years afterwards, in 1573, at the siege of la Rochelle, and 
in almost all the other considerable rencontres of that pe- 

1 Wood's Fasti, vol. I. and II. — 'Salmon's Live* of the English Bishops,— 
Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy. — fiarwiuk's Life, p. 400. 



C R I L L O N. II 

riod. He every where shewed himself worthy of the name 
usually given hiiu by Henry IV. of the Brave Crillon. 
Henry HI. who was well acquainted with his valour, made 
him icnight of his orders in 1585. The specious pretences 
of the leagne, the mask of religion which it put on, could 
never shake the fidelity of the brave Crillon, however great 
his antipathy to the Huguenots. He rendered important 
services to his prince in the affair of the Barricades, at 
Tours, and elsewhere. Henry HI. ventured to propose to 
Crillon to assassinate the duke de Guise, a rebellious sub- 
ject whom he was afraid to put to death by the sword of 
the law. Crillon oftered to tight him ; but disdained to 
hear of assassination. When Henry IV. had made the 
conquest of his kingdom, Crillon was as faithful to him as 
he had been to his predecessor. He repulsed the leaguers 
before Boulogne. The army of Villars having invested 
Villeboeuf in 1592, he vigorously defended that place, 
replying to the besiegers, on their summoning the besieged 
to surrender, *' Crillon is within, and the enemy without." 
Henry, however, did but little for him; *' because," said 
he, " I was sure of the brave Crillon; and I had to <rain 
over my persecutors." The peace of Vervins having put 
ail end to the wars that had troubled Europe, Crillon re- 
tired to Avignon, and there died, in the exercises of piety 
and penance, the 2d of December 1615, at the age of 
seventy-four. Francis Bening, a Jesuit, pronounced the 
discourse at his funeral : a piece of burlesque eloquence, 
printed in 1616, under the title of " Boucher d'Houneur," 
the " Buckler of Honour," and reprinted not many years 
since, as a specimen of ridiculous jargon, Mademoiselle 
de Lusson published in 2 vols. 12mo, 1757, the life of this 
hero, called by his contemporaries I'homme sans peur (the 
man without fear), le brave des braves (the bravest of the 
brave). This was translated into English by Miss Lomax, 
of Hertfordshire, and after being revised by Richardson, 
the author of Clarissa, was published at London, 1760, 2 
vols. 12mo. Crillon appears to have been a second che- 
valier Bayard, not on account of his fantastic and sullen 
humour, but from the excellence of his heart and his at- 
tachment to religion. It is well known that being present 
one day at a sermon on the sufferings of Christ, when the 
preacher was come to the description of the flagellation, 
Crillon, seized with a sudden fit of enthusiasm, put his 
hand to his sword, crying out, " Where wert thou, Cril- 



12 C R I L L O N. 

Ion ?" These sallies of courage, the effect of an exuberant 
vivacity of temper, engaged him too frequently in duels, 
in which he ahva3s came off with honour. Two instances 
are recorded of an intrepidity highly characteristic of Cril- 
lon. At the battle of Moncontour in 1569, a Huguenot 
soldier thought to serve his party by dispatching the 
bravest and most formidable of the catholic generals. In 
this view he repaired to a place where Crillon, in his re- 
turn from pursuing the fugitives, must necessarily pass. 
The soldier no sooner perceived him than he drew the 
trigger of his piece. Crillon, though severely wounded in 
the arm, ran up to the assassin, laid hold on him, and was 
instantly going to thrust him through with his sword, when 
the soldier threw himself at his feet and begged his life. 
*' I grant it thee," said Crillon ; " and if any faith could 
be put in a man that is at once a rebel to his king, and an 
apostate to his religion, I would put thee on thy parole 
never to bear arms but in the service of thy sovereign." 
The soldier, confounded at this act of magnanimity, swore 
that he would for ever shake off all correspondence with 
the rebels, and return to the catholic religion. — The young 
duke of Guise, to whom Henry IV. had sent him at Mar- 
seilles, was desirous of trying how far the fortitude of 
Crillon would go. In this design he caused the alarm to 
be sounded before the quarters of his brave commander, 
and two horses to be led to his door. Then, running up 
to his apartments, pretended that the enemy was master 
of the port and town, and proposed to him to make his 
escape, that he might not swell the triumph of the con- 
querors. Though Crillon was hardly well awake when he 
heard these tidings, he snatched up his arms without the 
least trepidation, maintaining that it was better to die 
sword in hand, than survive the loss of the place. Guise, 
finding it impossible, by all the arguments he could use, to 
alter his resolution, accompanied him out of the chamber ; 
but, when they were about the middle of the stairs, he 
burst out into a violent laughter, which plainly discovered 
the trick to Crillon. He then put on a graver countenance 
than when he thought he was going to fight ; and griping 
the duke of Guise by the hand, he said, with an oath, ac- 
cording to his custom, " Young man, never again amuse 
thyself with putting to the test the heart of an honest man. 
Par la mort ! if thou hadst found me weak, I would have 
poignarded thee !" After these words he retired without 



C R I L L O N. 13 

saying any thing more. — We will conclude with the la- 
conic billet written to him from the field of battle by Henry 
IV. after the victory of Arques, where Crillon was unable 
to be present : " Hang thyself, Crillon ! We have been 
fighting at Arques, and thou wert not there. Adieu, brave 
Crillon ! I love thee whether riti,iit or wrong."' 

CRINESIUS (CHRlsTOPiiEK), a learned Bohemian, 
was born at Schlackovvald, in 1584, and after receiving the 
first rudiments of education at home, was sent in 1603, 
fust to Jena, and afterwards to Wittemberg, where he 
studied divinity, philosophy, and the learned languages, 
in which last, particularly the oriental languages, he be- 
came critically skilled. He also taught the oriental lan- 
guages at Wittemberg, published several critical works, 
which were highly esteemed, and had for his pupils many 
young men v.ho were afterwards authors of great name. 
His reputation extending to Austria, he was invited in 
1614 to become pastor at Geschwend, where he rem.ained 
five years, until he was induced to accept the pastoral of- 
fice at Muhlgrub, the residence of a nobleman named 
Fenzelius, who offered him the situation, with a liberal 
income ; and here, probably, he would have spent his 
days, had not Ferdinand II, banished all Lutheran preachers 
and teachers, which obliged him to go to Ratisbon, and 
afterwards to Nuremberg. He was then made professor of 
divinity at Altdorff, which he enjoyed only four years, 
dying there, of what his biographers call the falling sick- 
ness, (comitialis morbus), Aug. 28, 1629. His principal 
works are, 1. "A Dissertation on the Confusion of 
Tongues." 2. " Exercitationes Hebraicae." 3. " Gym- 
nasium & Lexicon Syriacum," 2 vols. 4to. 4. " Lingua 
Samaritica," 4to. 5. '* Grammatica Chaldaica," 4to. 
6. " De auctoritate verbi divini in Hebraico codice," Am- 
sterdam, 1664, in 4to, &c.'^ 

CRINITUS (Peter), or more properly Peter Riccr, 
an Italian scholar, whose memory Mr. Roscoe has rescued 
from the misrepresentations of his biographers, was de- 
scended from the noble family of the Ricci, of Floreuce, 
and, when young, was instructed by, and obtained the 
friendship of Politian. He afterwards became an associate 
in the literary and convivial meetings at the palace of the 

1 Moreri.— Diet. Hist. — Life and Heroic Actions, 1760, 2 vols. 12mo. 
iJorn's £ffigtes Virorutn, voL I. — Freheri Theatnim. 



14 C R I N I T U S. 

Medici at Florence, and after the death of Lorenzo still 
continued to enjoy the society of Picns and Politian till 
the death of these distinguished scholars, in 1494. After 
this it is probable that he quitted his native place, and took 
an active part in the political commotions which soon oc- 
curred, as he frequently refers in his writings to the la- 
bours and misfortunes which he sustained, and avows his 
determination to return to his literary studies. Some part 
of his time he appears to have passed at Naples, and at 
Ferrara. He died, according to Negri, about the close of 
the fifteenth century, at the age of thirty-nine years ; but 
his writings refer to many events beyond that period ; and 
his dedication of his treatise " De Poetis Latinis" to Cosmo 
de Pazzi, is dated in 1505, which period, it is probable, 
he did not lontr survive. His death was the issue of a lon<T 
sickness, on which he wrote a beautiful and pathetic Laiin 
ode, from which we learn that he resigned himself to his 
untimely fate, at the same time asserting his claim to the 
esteem of posterity from the integrity of his life and con- 
duct. The principal work of Crinifus, *' De Honesta Dis- 
ciplina," as well as bis treatise on the Latin poets, before 
mentioned, Paris, 1520, fol. demonstrates the extent of 
his learning, and the accuracy of his critical taste. His 
poetry, all of which is in the Latin language, is also en- 
titled to commendation, and is frequently introduced by 
Mr. Roscoe, as illustrating the public transactions of the 
times in which he lived.' 

CIIISPE (Sir Nicholas), an eminent and loyal citizen 
in the reigns of king Charles the First, and king Charles 
the Second, the son of a very eminent merchant of Lon- 
don, was born in 1598, and bred, according to the custom 
of those times, in a thorough knowledge of business, 
though heir to a oreat estate. He made a consider- 
able addition to this by marriage ; and being a man of an 
enterprizing genius, ever active and solicitous about new 
inventions and discoveries, was soon taken notice of at 
court, was knighted, and became one of the farmers of 
the king's customs. When the trade to Guinea was under 
great difficulties and discouragements, he framed a project 
for retrieving it, which required a large ca|)ital, but his 
reputation was so great, that many rich merchants willingly 
engaged with him in the prosecution of the design ; and to 

* Roscoe's Leo. — Gresswell's Politian. — Moreri. — Saxii Onomasticon. 



C R I S P E. 15 

give a good example, as well as to shew that he meant to ad- 
here to the work tliat he had once taken in hand, he caused 
the castle of Cormantyn upon the Gold Coast, to be erected 
at his own expence. By this judicious precaution^, and by 
his wise and wary managemeiit afterwards, himself and his 
associates carried their trade so successfully, as to divide 
amongst them fifty thousand pounds a year. When the 
rebellion began, and the king was in want of nionev, sir 
Nicholas Crispe, and his partners in the farming of the 
customs, upon very short warning, and when their re- 
fusing it would have been esteemed a merit with the par- 
liament, raised him one hundred tliousand pounds at once*. 
After the war broke out, and in the midst of all the dis- 
tractions with which it was attended, he continued to carry 
on a trade to Holland, France, Spain,^ Italy, Norway, 
INIoscovy, and Turkey, which produced to the king nearly" 
one hundred thousand pounds a year, besides keeping 
most of the ports open and ships in them constantly ready 
for his service. All the correspondence and supplies of 
arms which were procured by the queen in Holland, and 
by the king's agents in Denmark, were consigned to his 
care, and by his prudence and vigilance safely landed in 
the north, and put into the hands of those for whom they 
were intended. In the management of so many nice and 
difficult affairs, he was obliged to keep up a very extensive 
correspondence, for which he hardly ever made use of 

* It will not, we hope, lessen the like sum. " Well," said sir Abraham, 
value of the liberal ))atriotism of the " this Ihen is the wor?!: that can hap- 
present race of London citizens, when pen, and 1 bless GotI, who has made 
they are told, that tlieir exertions and uic able to pay my allegiance, and to 
privations during the present disa^trous p:iy for it." Something of the same 
war, are not without a precedent, kind was insinuated to sir John Jacob, 
Tlie partners of sir Nicholas Crispe, who was not only very sincerely loyal, 
mentioned above, were sir Abraham but a man of a warm temper and a 
Dawes, sir John Jacob, and sir John tender heart. " What," said he iii 
Wohitenliolme. When the matter was reply, " shall I keep my estate, and 
proposed to sir Nicholas, he said, ''it seethe kinjr want wherewithal to pro- 
was a large sum, and short warning; ; tect me in it ? If it please (lod to bless 
but that Providence had made him the kln^, though I give him all I have, 
able, and his duty made him willing, I shall be no loser; if not, thoug;h I 
to lay down his proportion, whenever keep all I have, I shall be no saver." 
his majesty called for it." Sir .\bra- Sir John Wolstenholnae, a stout and 
ham Dawes had some relations, whose plain man, advanced his proportion, 
affections leaned to the republican as he afterwards did larger sums, wiih- 
party, and who besides had Kreat ex- out any speeches. He and sir Nicholas 
pectations from him : they magnified Crispe, lived to see the restoration, 
the sum that was desired, the uncer- and to be farmers of the customs again 
tainty of its being repaid, and the under king Charles the Second, after 
danger that it would be taken ill by they and the rest had paid deeply for 
parlumeat, who nii^bt insist npon the tUis progf of iheir loyalty. 



16 C R I S P E. 

cypher, but penned his letters in such a peculiar style, as 
removed entirely his intentions iroin the apprehension of 
his enemies, and yet lelt them very intelligible unto those 
with whom he transacted. He had also great address in 
bringing any thing to bear that he had once contrived, to 
which it contributed not a little, that in matters of secrecy 
and danger he seldom trusted to any hands but his own, 
and made use of all kinds of disguises. Sometimes, when 
he was believed to be in one place, he was actually at ano- 
ther ; letters of consequence he carried in the disguise of 
a porter ; when he wanted intelligence he would be at the 
water side, with a basket of flounders upon his head, and 
often passed between London and Oxford in the dress of 
a butter-woman on horseback, between a pair of panniers. 
He was the principal author of a well-laid design for pub- 
lishiiinj the king's commission of array at London, in which 
there was nothing dishonourable, so far as sir Nicholas 
Crispe was concerned, which, however. Clarendon inad- 
vertently confounds with another design, superinduced by 
Mr. Waller, of surprizing the parliament, in bringing 
which to bear he proceeded very vigorously at first, till, 
finding that he had engaged in a matter too big for his 
management, he suddenly lost his spirits, and some of the 
chief men in the house of commons gaining intelligence 
that something was in agitation to their prejudice. May 
31st, 1643, they presently seized Mr. Waller, and drew 
from him a complete discover}^ which, from the account 
they published, plainly distinguished these two projects. 
By the discovery of this business, sir Nicholas Crispe 
found himself obliged to declare openly the course he 
meant to take ; and having at his own expence raised a 
regiment of horse for the king's service, he distinguished 
himself at the head of it as remarkably in his military, as 
he had ever done in his civil capacity. When the siege 
of Gloucester was resolved on, sir Nicholas Crispe was 
charged with his regiment of horse to escort the king's 
train of artillery from Oxford, which important service he 
very gallantly performed ; but in the month of September 
following, a very unlucky accident occurred, and though 
the circumstances attending it clearly justified his conduct 
to the world, yet the concern it gave him was such as he 
could not shake off so long as he lived. He happened to 
be quartered at Rouslidge, in Gloucestershire, where one 
sir James Ennyon, bart. of Northamptonshire, and some 



C R I S P E. 17 

friends of his took up a great jinrt of tlic house, though 
none of them iiad any commands in the army, which, how- 
ever, sir Nicholas hore with the utmost patience, notwith- 
standing he was much incommoded by it. Some time 
after, certain horses belonging to those gentlemen were 
missing, and sir James Ennyon, though he had lost none 
himself, insinuating that some of sir Nicholas's troopers 
must have taken them, insisted that he should immediately 
draw out his regiment, that search might be made for 
them. Sir Nicholas answered him with mildness, and offered 
him as full satisfaction as it was in his power to give, but 
excused himself from drawingr out his regiment, as a thing- 
improper and inconvenient at that juncture, for reasons 
which he assigned. Not content, however, sir James left 
him abruptly, and presently after sent him a challenge, 
accompanied with a message to this effect, that if he did 
not comply with it, he would pistol him against the wall. 
Upon this, sir Nicholas Crispe taking a friend of his with 
him, went to the place appointed, and finding sir James 
Ennyon and the person who brought him the challenge, 
sir Nicholas used his utmost endeavours to pacify him; but 
he l)eing determined to receive no satisfaction, unless 
by the sword, they engaged, and sir James received a 
wound in the rim of the belly, of which he died in two 
days. Before this, however, he sent for sir Nicholas 
Crispe, and was sincerely reconciled to him. Upon the 
2d of October following, sir Nicholas was brought to a 
court-martial for this unfortunate affair, and upon a full 
examination of every thing relating to it, was most honour- 
ably acquitted. He continued to serve with the same zeal 
and fidelity during 1644, and in the spring following; but 
when the treaty of Uxbridge commenced, the parliament 
thought fit to mark him, as they afterwards did in the Isle 
of Wight treaty, by insisting that he should be removed 
from his majesty's presence ; and a few months after, on 
April 16th, 1645, they ordered his large house in Bread- 
street to be sold, which for many years belonged to his 
family. Neither was this stroke of their vengeance judged 
a sufficient punishment for his offences, since having re- 
solved to grant the elector palatine a pension of eight 
thousand pounds a year, they directed that two thousand 
should be applied out of the king's revenue, and the re- 
mainder ipade up out of the estates of lord Culpeper and 
gir Nicholas Crispe, Sir Nicholas finding himself no longer 
Vol.. XL C 



18 C R I S P E. 

in a capacity to render his majesty any service, thought it ex- 
pedient to preserve himself ; and in April 1646 embarked 
vvitli lord Cnlpeper and colonel Monk for France, but as he 
liad many rich relations who had interest witlj those in power, 
they interposed in his favour; and as sir Nicholas perceived 
that he could he of no service to the royal cause abroad, he 
did not look upon it as any deviation from his duty, to return 
and live quietly at home. Accordingly, having submitted to 
a composition, he came back to London, to retrieve his shat- 
tered fortunes, and very soon engaged again in husiness, 
with the same spirit and success as before. In this season ot 
prosperity he was notfinmindful of the wants of Charles II. 
but contributed cheerfully to his relief, when his affairs 
seemed to be in the most desperate condition. After the 
death of Oliver Cromwell, he was instrumental in recon- 
ciling many to their duty, and so well were his principles 
known, and so much his influence apprehended, that when 
it was proposed that the royalists in and about London 
should sign an instrument signifying their inclination to 
preserve the public tranquillity, he was called upon, and 
very rea,dily subscribed it. He was also principally con- 
cerned in hringing the city of London, in her corporate 
capacity,- to give the encouragement that was requisite to 
leave general Monk without any difficulties or suspicion 
as to the sincerity and unanimity of their inclinations. It 
was therefore very natural, after reading the king's letter 
and declaration in common-council, May 3d, 1660, to 
think of sending some members of their own body to pre- 
sent their duty to his majesty; and having appointed nine 
aklennen and their recorder, they added sir Nicholas 
Crispe, with several other worthy persons, to the com- 
mittee, that the king might receive the more satisfaction 
from their sentiments being delivered by several of those 
who had suffered deeply in his own and in his father's 
cause. His majesty accordingly received these gentlemen 
very graciously, as a committee, and afterwards testified 
to them separately the sense he had of their past services, 
and upon his return, sir Nicholas Crispe and sir .John Wol- 
stenholme, were re-instated as farmers of the customs. 
Sir Nicholas was now in years, and somewhat infirm, spent 
a great part of his time at his noble country seat near 
Hammersmith, where he was in some measure the founder 
of the chapel, and having an opportunity of returning the 
ebligaiion he had received from some of his relations, he 



C R I S P E. 19 

procured for them that indemnity from the king, gratis, 
for which he had so dearly paid during the rebellion. The 
last testimony he received of his royal master's favour, was 
his being created a baronet, April IGtli, 1665, which he 
did not long survive, dying February 26th, the next year, 
in the sixty-seventh year of liis age, leaving a very large 
estate to his grandson, sir Nicholas Crispe. His corpse 
was interred with his ancestors, in the parish church of St. 
Mildred, in Bread-street, and his funeral sermon was 
preached by his reverend and learned kinsman Mr, Crispe, 
of Christ-church, Oxford. But his heart was sent to the 
chapel at Hammersmith, where there is a short and plain 
inscription upon a cenotaph erected to his memory ; or 
rather upon that monument which himself erected in grate- 
ful commemoration of king Charles I. as the inscription 
placed there in sir Nicholas's life-time tells us, under 
which, after his decease, was placed a small white marble 
urn, upon a black pedestal, containing his heart.* 

CRISP (ToiUAS), a puritan writer of considerable emi« 
nence, the third son of Ellis Crisp, esq. an alderman, and 
probably related to the family of the subject of the pre- 
ceding article, was born in Bread-street, London, in 1600, 
and educated at Eton-school. He afterwards went to Cam- 
bridge, where he studied until he took his degree of B. A. 
and was, on his removal to Oxford, " for the accomplish- 
ment," says Wood, " of certain parts of learning," incor- 
porated in the same degree as a member of Baliol-college, 
in tlie end of Feb. 1626, and the degree was completed 
by him in the act following, July 1627. In this year he 
was presented to the rectory of Newington Butts, near 
Southwark, but enjoyed the living only a few months, 
being removed on account of a simoniacal contract. In 
the same year, however, he became rector of Brinkworth, 
in Wiltshire, and a few years after proceeded D. D. At 
Brinkworth he was much followed for his edifying manner 
of preaching, and for his great hospitality. But on the 
breaking out of the rebellion, being noted among those 
who were inclined to favour the republicans, he met witk 
such harsh treatment from the kino-'s soldiers, as obliged 
him to repair to London, where his preaching, although 
at first acceptable, was soon accused of leaning to Anti- 

* Eiog. Brit, — Lloyd's Memoirs. — Lysons's Environs, vol. II. wi.h a fins 
portrait. 

C 2 



20 CRISP. 

nomianisnij and involved him with many of his brethren irr 
a controversy. He was baited, says Wood, by fifty-tvro 
opponents, in a grand dispute concerning the freeness of 
the grace of God in Jesus Christ; and by this encounter, 
which was eagerly managed on his part, he contracted a 
disease that brought him to his grave. This disease, com- 
municated by infection, and probably nowise connected 
with the eagerness of his dispute, was the small-pox, of 
which lie died Feb, 27, 1642, and was buried in the family 
vault in St. Mildred's, Bread-street. In his last sickness, 
he avowed his firm adherence in the doctrines he had 
preached. The dispute mentioned by Wood, was pro- 
bably carried on in person, or in the pulpit, for we do not 
find that he published any thing in his life-time ; but, after 
his death, three 4to volumes of his sermons were printed 
by his son, under the title of " Christ alone exalted," con- 
taining in all forty-two sermons. When they appeared, 
we are told, that the Westminster assembly proposed to 
have them burnt ; and although we do not find that this was 
done, Flavel, and other non-conformists, endeavoured to 
expose the danger of some of his sentiments. Here, pro- 
babh", the controversy might have rested, had not his 
works been again published about the revolution, by one 
of his sons, with additions. This excited a new contro- 
versy, confined almost entirely to the dtssenters, but in 
which some of the most eminent of that body took a part, 
and carried it on with an asperity which produced consi- 
derable disunion. In particular it disturbed the harmony 
of the weekly lecture established at Pinners'-hall, and the 
congregation mostly inclining to Dr. Crisp's sentiments, 
the minority seceded, and began a weekly lecture at Sal- 
ters'-hall. The principal writers in this controversy were 
Williams, Edwards, Lorimer, &c. against Crisp ; and 
Chauncey, Mather, Lobb, &.c. for him; and after a con- 
test of seven years, they rather agreed to a suspension of 
liostilities than came to a decision. The truth appears to 
have been, that Crisp was extremely unguarded in many 
of his expressions, but was as far as the fiercest of his an- 
tagonists from intending to support any doctrine that 
tended to licentiousness. A very full account of the whole 
controversy may be seen in the last of our authorities.* 

» Ath. Ox. vol. IT. — Lysons's Environs, vol. I.— Bogue's History of the Drs- 
tenters, vol, I. p. 399. 



CRISPIN. 21 

CRISPIN (Gilbert), abbot of Westminster in the 
iCleventli and twelfth centuries, was born in Normand}^, of 
a considerable family, and educated in the monastery of 
Bee, under Lan franc, afterwards archbishop of Canter- 
Jburj^, who was then prior of that convent, and taught the 
liberal arts with great reputation. In this seminary Cris- 
pin became a monk, under Anselm, who was at that time 
abbot. He was much esteemed by both these eminent 
men, the former of whom, after his advancement to the 
see of Canterbury, sent for him to England, and made 
him abbot of St. Peter's, Westminster, and Lanfranc 
parted with him reluctantly, and continued to correspond 
with him as long as he lived. Crispin was abbot of West- 
minster thirty-two years, during which he was sent on dif- 
ferent embassies by king Henry I. Leland says, that he 
was some time at Rome, probably on some ecclesiastical 
errand. He died in 1117, and was buried in the south 
part of the great cloisters. Leland, Bale, and Pits, who 
give him the character of a very learned and pious eccle- 
siastic, attribute a great many works in divinity to him, of 
which we know of one only that was published, " De fide 
ecclesiaj, contra Judaeos," Cologne, 1537, and Paris, 1678, 
with Anselm's works. This was occasioned by a disputa- 
tion which he held with a very learned Jew at Mentz, 
whose arguments, with his own, he drew up in the form of 
a dialogue. ' 

CRISPIN, or CRESPIN (John), an ingenious printer 
in the sixteenth century, and a native of Arras, was ori- 
giually clerk to Charles du Moulin, and admitted advocate 
to the parliament of Paris; but afterwards, forming a 
friendship with Beza, he embraced the reformed religion, 
and retired to Geneva, where he gained great reputation 
by his printing, and died of the plague, 1572. Crispiu 
was author of a Greek Lexicon, Geneva, 1562, 4to, and 
reprinted in folio. He also published a martyrology under 
the title of " Histoire des vrais temoings de la verit^, &c, 
depuivs Jean Hus, jusqu'au tems present," ibid. 1570, fol. 
and reprinted in 1582, 15iJ7, and 1609. Moreri and Fop- 
pen, while they allo»v Crispin's merit as a man of learning 
and an useful and accurate printer, cannot forgive him for 
this last publication.'^ 

' Loland. — Bale. — Pits. — Tanner. 

'^ ,Gen. Diet.— Moieri.— Foppeii Bibl, Bel?. 



22 C R I S P U S. 

CRISPUS (Anthony), a divine and physician, was born 
June 11, 1600, at Trapani, a town in Sicily, and received 
the early part of his medical education under his father, 
whom he succeeded in his practice, and became one of the 
most popular physicians of his time. Some j'ears before 
his deatii, which happened in 1683, he united the office of 
priest to that of physician, and retired altogether from 
business. Among his publications are: "In lethargum 
febri supervenientem acutse, Commentarii duo," Panorini, 
1668, 4to, and " De sputo sanguinis a partibus corporis 
infirmis, supervenientis cum Tussi, &c." 1682, 4to, the 
practice recommended in which has been very little altered 
since his time. He wrote also a treatise on the cure of 
infectious fever by venisection and cathartics, the mode 
now recommended in the yellow fever, and another on the 
most celebrated mineral waters of the island, with an ex- 
amination of their constituent parts. ' 

CRISPUS, or CRISPO (John Baptist), an Italian di- 
vine and poet, of the sixteenth century, was born at Gal- 
lipoli, in the kingdom of Naples. Having entered into 
the church, his merit procured him the friendship of many 
of tlie most learned men of his time, and particularly of 
the cardinal Jerome Seripando, to whom he was for some 
time secretary ; and he was also in great request as a teacher 
of jurisprudence, philosophy, and theology. He died about 
15D5, at the time when pope Clement VIII. intended to 
have promoted him to a bishopric. His principal work is 
a piece of criticism, much admired in his time, " De 
ethnicis philosophis caute legendis," Rome, 1594, folio. 
Crispus's other works are two orations concerning the war 
against the Turks, printed at Rome in 1594, 4to. " De 
JVIedici Laudibus, Oratio ad cives suos Gallipolitanos," 
Rome, 1591, 4to. The " Life of Sannazarius," Rome, 
3 583, reprinted at Naples in 1633, 8vo. A draught or 
map of the city of Gallipoli, dedicated to Flaminio Carac- 
cioli January the 1st, 1591. Some of his Italian poems 
are in a collection published by Scipio de Monti, under 
the title " Le Rime," &c. 1585, 4to. "" 

CRITOPYLUS. See METROPHANES. 

CROCUS, RICHARD. See CROKE. 

CROESE (Gerard), a protestant divine, and author of 
a "History of the Quakers," was born at Amsterdam April 

* Moreri.— -llaller. — Rees's Cyclo])cctIia. 2 Gcu, Diet. — Morerj. 



C R O E S E. 23 

27, 1642. He was partly educated there, but principally 
at Leyden, where he studied polite literature uiidor Gro- 
novius and Hornius, and divinity under Cocceius and 
Hoornbek. He then accompanied the son of admiral de 
Ruyter to Smyrna, and on his i-eturn came to Ensflancl, 
and had some intention of residing at Norwich, but pre- 
ferring- his own country, he was appointed chaplain to the 
garrison of Ypres, and pastor of the chmxh of Alblas near 
Dort, where he died May 10, 1710. His principal wori^ 
was his " History of the Quakers," entitled " Historia 
Quakeriana," Amst. 1695, Svo, and translated into E'.ighsh 
1696. It does not appear that this history gave much sa- 
tisfaction to tiie sect, and it is certainly very inferior to 
that of Sewell, who furnished him with some materials, of 
which, according- to Sevvell, he did not make a judicious 
use. It was also answered by a quaker at Amsterdam, in a 
work entitled *' Dilucidationes cjucedam value necessarioe 
in Gerardi Croesii Hist." 1696, Svo. Croese's other pub- 
lication, a singular mixture of misapplied learning and 
fanciful criticism, is entitled '* Homerus Hebrosus, sive 
Historia Hebra^orum ab Homero, Hebraicis hominibus ac 
sententiis conscripta, in Odyssea et Iliade, exposita et il- 
lustrata," Dort, 1704. Perizonius, and after him Saxius, 
conceives that nothing can be imagined more foolish than 
this book, in which probably our readers will agree, when 
they are told that his object is to prove that the Odyssey 
contains the history of the Jews in the patriarchal ages, 
and the Iliad is an account of the siege and capture of 
Jericho. Croese left also some dissertations.* 

CROFT (Sir Herbert), the son of Edward Croft, esq. 
of a very ancient family at Croft-castle in Herefordshire, 
was educated at Christ-church, Oxford, and became a 
member of parliament in the latter end of queen Elizabeth's 
reign. On the accession of James 1. he wailed on him at 
Theobalds, and his majesty being informed of his family 
and personal merits, he was honoured with knighthood. 
After he had lived fifty-two years as a protestant, he be- 
came a member of the Roman catholic charch, and going 
over to Doway, had an apartment in the monastery, of the 
English Benedictines, and, as some say, became a lay 
brother of the order. After residing here about five years 

1 Moreri.— Diet. Hist.— Niceron.— Saxii Onomast,— Preface to Sewell's Hist, 
of the Quakers, 



2i CROFT. 

he died April 10, 1622, a rare example, says his popish 
hiographer, of piety and resolution. He left four sons : 
William, also knii^hted and a colonel in the civil wars, who 
was killed in battle in 1645 ; James and Robert, both co- 
lonels; and Herbert, the subject of the following article. 
He wrote, 1. "Letters persuasive to his wife and children, to 
take upon them the Catholic religion," Dovvay, 1619, 12mo. 
2. *' Arcfuments to show that the church in communion 
with the see of Rome, is the true church ; against Dr. 
Field's four books of the church," 1619. 3. " Reply to 
the answer of his daughter (Mary) which she made to a 
paper of his, sent to her concerning the Roman church," 
1619, 12mo, 25 5 pages. This must be a very rare book 
if, according to Wood, eight copies only were printed.' 

CROFT (Herbert), an eminent prelate, and third son 
of the preceding, was born Oct. 18, 1603, at Great Mil- 
ton near Thame, in Oxfordshire, in the house of sir W^il- 
liam Green, his iTiother being then on a journey to Lon- 
don. In his thirteenth year he was sent to Oxford ; but 
upon his father's embracing the popish religion, and re- 
moving to Dovvay, he was taken there, and after some 
time sent to the English college of Jesuits at St. Omer's ; 
where he was not only reconciled to the church of Rome, 
but persuaded also to enter into the order. Some time 
before his father's death in 1622, he was sent back into 
England, to transact some family affairs ; and becoming 
acquainted with Morton, bishop of Durham, he was by 
him brought back to the church of Ensfland. At tlie desire 
of Dr. Laud, he went a second time to Oxford, and was 
admitted a student of Christ-church ; and the university 
generously allowing the time he had spent abroad to be 
included in his residence, he soon after took the degree of 
B, D. entered into orders, and became minister of a church 
in Gloucestershire, and rector of Harding in Oxfordshire. 
August 1639 he was collated to a prebend in the church of 
Salisbury; and the year after took the degree of D. D. 
being then chaplain in ordinary to the king. The same 
year he was made a prebendary of Worcester, and the 
year after a canon of Windsor. In 1644 he was nominated 
dean of Hereford, where he married Mrs. Anne Brown, 
the daughter of his predecessor, though in constant peril 

' Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Djtld's Cli. Hist.— Biog. Erit, note in art, Herbert Cto&n 
^ishop. 



CROFT. 25 

of liis then small fortune, and sometimes of his life. He 
suffered extremely for his loyalty to Charles I ; but at 
length, in 1659, by the successive deaths of his two elder 
brothers, became possessed of the family-estate. At the 
restoration he was reinstated in his preferments ; and Dec. 
2, 1661, promoted to the see of Hereford, which he never 
would quit, though he was offered a better see more than 
once. He became afterwards, about 1667, dean of the 
•royal chapel, which he held to 1669, and then resigned it; 
being weary of a court life, and finding but small effects 
from his pious endeavours. He then retired to his diocese, 
where he lived an example of that discipline he was strict 
in recommending to others; and was much beloved for 
his constant preaching, hospitable temper, and extensive 
charity. He was very intent upon reforming some things 
in the church, which he thought abuses, and not tendino- 
to edification. He was very scrupulous in his manner of 
admitting persons into orders, and more especially to the 
priesthood ; and he refused to admit any prebendaries into 
his cathedral church, except such as lived within his diocese, 
that the duty of the church might not be neglected, and 
that the addition of a prebend might be a comfortable ad- 
dition to a small living. In all these resolutions, it is said, 
he continued inflexible. 

In the mean time, he was not so intent upon his private 
concerns in his diocese, but that he shewed himself ready- 
to serve the public as often as he thought it in his power. 
Accordingly, in 1675, when the quarrel with the non-con- 
forniists was at its height, and the breach so artfully widened 
that the Roman catholics entertained hopes of entering 
through it, he published a piece, entitled, " The Naked 
Truth ; or, the true state of the primitive church," 4to, which 
was printed at a private press, and addressed to the lords 
and commons assembled in parliament. This, though no 
more than a small pamphlet of four or five sheets, excited 
an uncommon degree of attention, and was read and 
studied by all people of sense and learning in the kingdom. 
The author's design was to recommend to the legislature 
measm-es for reconciling the differences among proiestants, 
and for securing the church against the attempts of papists. 
He begins with articles of faith ; and having shewn the 
danger of imposing more than are necessary, especially as 
terms of communion, he proceeds next through all the 
^reat points in dispute between the church of England and 



26 CROFT. 

those that dissent from her: labouring to prove through- 
out, that protestants dift'er about nothing that can truly be 
styled essential to religion ; and that, for the sake of union, 
coujpliances would be more becoming, as well as more ef- 
fectual, than enforcing uniformity by penalties and perse- 
cution. The whole is written with the best intentions, and 
with great force of argument : nevertheless it was attacked 
with great zeal by some of the clergy, particularly by Dr. 
Turner, master of St, John's college in Cambridge, in his 
Animadversions on a pamphlet called " The Naked Truth ;" 
1676, 4to. This was answered by Andrew Marvell, in a 
piece, entitled, " Mr. 8mirke, or the Divine in Mode ;" 
in which after descending, as the title shows, to personal 
ridicule, he says, that bishop Croft's work is a treatise, 
which, " if not for its opposer, needs no commendation, 
being writ with that evidence and demonstration of truth, 
that all sober men cannot but oive their assent and consent 
to it unasked. It is a book of that kind, that no Christian 
can scarce peruse it, without wishing himself to have been 
the author, and almost imagining tliat he is so : the con- 
ceptions therein being of so eternal idea, that every man 
finds it to be but a copy of .the original in his own mind." 
Many other pamphlets were written against " The Naked 
Truth ;" but the author did not vouchsafe them any reply, 
and it continued for a considerable time to be read and re- 
printed. 

Ill is was the first thing bishop Croft published, except 
two sermons : one on Isaiah xxvii. verse last, preached be- 
fore the house of lords upon the fast-day, Feb. 4, 1673 ; 
the other before the king at Whitehall, April 12, 1674, on 
Fhilipp. i. 21. In 1678 he published a third sermon, 
preached Nov. 4, at the cathedral church in Hereford, and 
entitled, " A second call to a farther Humiliation." The 
year after he published " A Letter written to a friend con- 
cerning po|)isli idolatry :" and also a second impression, 
corrected, with additions, of his " Legacy to his diocese ; 
or a short determination of all controversies we have with 
the jiapists by God's holy word," 4lo. Besides the epistle 
to all the people within his diocese, especially those of the 
city of Hereford, and a preface, this work consists of 
three sermons upon John v. 39. " Search the scriptures, 
for in them ye think ye have eternal life ;" and a supple- 
ment, together with a tract concerning the holy sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper, promised in the preface. This work 



CROFT. 27 

was calculated by him to preserve the people of his diocese 
from the snares of popish missionaries, who were tlien 
very active all over the kingdom. In 1685 he published 
some animadversions on a book entitled " The Theory of 
the Earth ;" and in 16S8, "A Short Discourse concerning 
the reading his majesty's lute declaration in Churches," 
This, which was the last employment of his pen, was 
shewn by a certain courtier to king James ; who ordered 
so much of the discourse, as concerned the reading of the 
declaration, to be published to the world, and the rest to 
be suppressed, as being contrary to the views with which 
that declaration had been set forth. It is remarkable of 
this excellent prelate, that he had taken a resolution some 
years before his death, of resigning his bishopric ; to which, 
it seems, he was moved by some scruples of conscience. 
His motives he expressed in a long letter to Dr. Stilling- 
fleet ; who, however, in an answer, persuaded him to con- 
tinue his episcopal charge with his usual earnestness and 
vigour. He died at his palace at Hereford, May IS, ICyi, 
and was buried in the cathedral there, with this short in- 
scription over his grave-stone : " Depositum Herberti 
Croft de Croft, episcopi Herefordensis, qui obiit IS die 
Mail A. D. 1691, letatis suae SS ; in vita conjuncti :" that 
is, " Here are deposited the remains of Herbert Croft of 
Croft, bishop of Hereford, who died May 18, 1691, in 
the 88th year of his age ; in life united." The last words, 
" in life united," allude to his lying next dean Benson, at 
the bottom of whose grave-stone are these, " in morte non 
divisi," that is, " in death not divided :" the two grave- 
stones having hands engraven on them, reaching from one 
to the other, and joined together, to signify the lastin<i- 
and uninterrupted friendship which subsisted "between these 
two reverend dignitaries. 

As bishop Croft lived, so he died, without the least 
tincture of that popery which he had contracted in his 
youth, as appears clearly enough from the preamble to his 
will : " I do," says he, " in all humble manner most 
heartily thank God, that he hath been most graciously 
pleased, by the light of his most holy gospel, to recall me 
from the darkness of gross errors and popish superstitions, 
into which I was seduced in my younger days, and to set- 
tle me again in the true ancient catholic and apostolic 
tuiih, professed by our church of England, in which I was 
born and baptized, and in which J joyfully die," &c. He 



28 CROFT. 

had one only son, Herbert, who was educated in Magda- 
len college, Oxford, was created baronet by Charles II. 
Nov. 1671, and was twice knight of the shire in the reign 
of king William. He died 1720, and was succeeded by 
his son Archer, and he by his son and namesake in 1761, 
who dying in 1792, without male issue, the title descended 
to the rev. Herbert Croft, a gentleman well known iu the 
literary world. ^ 

CROFT (William), a musician, was born at Nether- 
Eatington in Warwickshire, about 1657. He was educated 
in the royal chapel under Dr. Blow, and became organist 
at St. Anne's, Westminster. In 1700 he was admitted a 
gentleman-extraordinary of the chapel royal, and in 1704 
organist of the same. In 1708 he succeeded Dr. Blow as- 
master of the cliildien, and composer to the chapel royal, 
and also as organist at Westminster-abbey. In 1712 he 
published, but without his name, " Divine Harmony, or a 
new collection of select anthems ;" to which is pretixed, 
*' A brief account of Church Music." In 1715 he was 
created doctor in music at Oxford : his exercise for that 
deg'-ee was an English and also a Latin ode, written by 
Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Joseph Trapp, which, with the music, 
were published with the title of " Musicus apparatus Aca- 
demicus." In 1724 he published by subscription a noble 
work of his own, entitled " Musica Sacra, or Select An- 
thems in score," in 2 vols, the first containing the burial 
service, which Purcell had begun, but lived not to com- 
plete. He died Aug. 1727, of an illness occasioned by 
attending upon his duty at the coronation of George II ; 
and there is a monument erected for him in Westminster- 
abbey, by his friend Humphrey Wyrley Birch, esq. a gen- 
tleman of the bar, of a whimsical character, and extremely 
fond of funeral music. The character of Croft's musical 
compositions is given in our authorities.^ 

CKOFTON (Zachary), a non-conformist divine, of the 
family of sir Edward Crofton,.was born in Ireland, and for 
the most ))art had his education in Dublin. When the 
Irish troubles broke out, he came over to England ; and 
having but one groat in his pocket, he spent it the first 
night at his quarters. His first living in the church was at 
Wrenbury in Cheshire, from whence he was expelled for 

' Eiog. Brit. — Ath. Ox. vo!. II. — Salmon's Lives of the Bishops, 
2 Hawkins's Hist, of Music. — Burney's Hist, vol. 111. 



C R O F T O N. 29 

refusing to take the engagement, 1648. He then came to 
London, and aftei" being for some time minister at St. 
James's Garlike-liithe, obtained the living of St. Botolph's 
near Aldgate, where he continued until the restoration, 
when he was ejected for non-conformity. Not long after 
he entered into a controversy with bishop Gauden con- 
cerning the solenni league and covenant, for his defence of 
which he was imprisoned in the Tower, until he was 
obliged to petition for his liberty. He afterwards went 
into Cheshire, where he was again imprisoned ; but ob- 
taining his liberty, took a small farm, or as Calamy says, 
kept a grocer's shop, for the support of his family. In 
1667 he returned to London, and tanght a school near 
Aldgate, where he died about 1672. He published a great 
number of controversial pamphlets, and some sermons, few 
of which have outlived their day. He was a man of learn- 
ing, and acuteness in controversy ; but, Calamy allows, of 
a warm and hasty temper.* 

CROIUS, or DE CROI (John), a learned protestant 
clergyman in France, in the seventeenth century, w^as born 
at Usez, and being educated to the church, was appointed 
pastor, first of Beziers, and afterwards of Usez. His life 
appears to have been spent in the exercise of his duties as 
a clergyman, and in writing on the controversies of the 
times, in which he was enabled to take a distinguished 
part, being a man of extensive learning, a critic, and an 
able Oriental scholar. He died Aug. 31, 1659. He wrote 
many controversial pieces in French, particularly a defence 
of the Geneva confession of Faith, 1645, 8vo, and " Au- 
gustin suppose," &c. proving that the four books on the 
creed in St. Augustine's works are not the production of 
that author ; but his Latin works gained him greater repu- 
tation, particularly his " xSpecimen Conjecturarum in quoe- 
dam Origenis, Ireneei, et Tertulliani Loca," 1632; and 
*' Observationes Sacrre et Historicce in Nov. Test." chiefly 
against Heinsius, 1644.^ 

CROIX nu Maine (Francis de Grude' la), was born 
in the province of Maine in 1552. He was sieur or lord of 
the manor of Croix du Maine, and of Vieille Cour, four 
leagues from Mans; From his youth he had a passionate 
inclination for learninor and books, and collected so lar<>-e 
a library at the university in Greek and Latin authors, and 

» Calamy. ' Gen. Diet. — Saxii Onomast, 



30 CROIX. 

most European languages, that, as he says himself, the 
catalogue of them would make a volume. He began to 
make this collection in his seventeenth j-ear ; and in his 
thirty-second, viz. in 1584, he publi^hed his " French 
Library," being a general account of all autho¥s that wrote 
in that language, fol. Of this we shall take particular no* 
tice under the article Verdikr. In J. 579 he addressed a 
discourse to viscount de Pauliny, and speaks of a great 
many works wliich he had written, none of which, however, 
are known, except a small 4to, " Desseins ou projets, 
&c. pour dresser une hibliotheque parlaite," Paris, 1583, 
and a long Latin epitaph on the poet Monin, who was 
assassinated at Paris in 1586, a fate which befell himself 
at Tours in 1592. ' 

CROIX. See PETIS. 

CROKE, or CROOK (Sir George), the third son of 
sir John Croke of Buckinghamshire, was born at Chilton 
in that county in 1559, and educated at the free school of 
Thame, from whence, about the year 1576, he went to 
Oxford, and became a commoner, or gentleman commoner, 
of University college ; but before he took any degree, he 
was removed to the Inner Temple, where he studied law. 
Here he was autumn reader in 1599, treasurer in 1609, 
and double reader in Lent 1617. In June 1623 he was 
knighted and made king's serjeant; and Feb. 22, 1624, 
was created one of the justices of the common-pleas, which 
office he held till 1628, when, upon the death of sir John 
Doderidge, he succeeded him as justice of the king's 
bench. In 1636 he gained great credit by taking the pare 
of Hampden in the case of ship-money, without losmg the 
king's favour. Sir George had purchased an estate at 
Waterstoke, in Oxfordshire, and not long before his death 
he petitioned king Charles to be discharged from his of- 
fice of judge on account of his age, being then upwards of 
eighty years old, when his majesty was pleased, in consi- 
deration of his long and faithful services, to excuse him 
from any farther attendance, either on the bench or circuit, 
but ordered that he should remain in office, and his salary 
be continued. After this he retired to Waterstoke, where 
lie died Feb. 16, 1641. Sir Georoe had another estate at 
Studley, near Waterstoke, where, in 1639, he endowed 
some almshouses. His epitaph at Watexstoke gives him 

• Moreri. 



C R O K E. 2h 

a character vvliich has never been contradicted ; that he 
was distinguished for acute judgment and presence of 
mind ; inherited aw integrity of heart which neither threats 
nor honours could seduce ; and that he noised in equal 
balance the prerogative of the crown and hberties of the 
people. 

The " Reports" of sir George Croke have obtained the 
character of great authenticity. There have been several 
editions, as in 1657, 165S, 1661, all of which are called 
the first edition, and are frequently v.ithout tables of the 
principal matters ; there is also a very incorrect edition, 
varying in the numbers from the other editions, and the 
dates are printed in numerical letters MDCL. &c. An edi- 
tion of 1669, which is called the second, is well printed in 

3 vols, but has no references. The third, also in 3 vols, 
fol. was translated and published by his son-in-law, sir 
Harbottle Grimstone, in 1683 or 1685, with tables and re- 
ferences. This first led the way in divesting this branch of 
legal literature of the foreign idiom, and substituting the 
author's native language. The fourth and last edition, in 

4 vols. 8vo, 1790 — 1792, with additions and marginal 
notes, and many references to later authorities, including 
several from the MS notes of lord chief baron Parker, was 
published by Thomas Leach, esq. There is an accurate 
abridgment of Croke's Reports, three parts, Svo, by VVill. 
Hughes, esq. published in 1685. Sir George Croke's ar- 
guments on ship-money were published with those of sir 
Richard Hutton. Lloyd, no friend to the patriots of Charles 
L's time, remarks that the share in this tax for which 
Hampden went to law was eighteen shillings, and that it 
cost the nation eighteen millions. ' 

CROKE (Richard), in Latin Crocus, one of the re- 
vivers of classical learning, was a native of London, edu- 
cated at Eton, and admitted scholar of King's college, 
Cambridge, April 4, 1506. During the time of his scho- 
larship he went to Oxford, and was instructed in the Greek 
lancjuaore by Grocyn. He then went to Paris and some 
other parts of Europe for further improvement, and con- 
tinued abroad about twelve years, supported chiefly by the 
liberality of Warham, archbishop of Canterbury. During 
his residence there he received a very high honour, that 

' Ath. Ox. vol. II. — Ward's Gresham Professors. — Lloyd's State Wortliies. 
•—Fuller's Worthies. — BriJgtnan's Legal Bibliograplij'. 



32 C R O K E. 

of being chosen Greek professor at Leipsic, being the first 
that ever tauglit Greek in that university. Camerarius was 
one of his pupils here. He resided at Leipsic from 1514 
to 1517, and afterwards for some time at Louvain in the 
same capacity. But as now the study of the Greek lan- 
guage began to be encouraged in our own universities, and as 
they could ill spare a scholar of Croke's accomplishments, 
he was invited home, and in 1519, by the interest of 
Fisher, bishop of Rochester, was chosen public orator, and 
lecturer or teacher of Greek in that university. Here, 
likewise, as well as at Leipsic, he was the first who pub- 
licly and b}^ authority taught Greek, Erasmus, who pre- 
ceded him, having only made some private attempts ; yet, 
in some respect he may be said to have succeeded that 
eminent scholar, as in his oration in praise of Greek learn- 
ing, he makes honourable mention of Erasmus, and speaks 
modestly of himself as unworthy to succeed him. Eras- 
mus had so good an opinion of him, that knowing he was 
poor, he desired dean Colet to assist him. In 1524, hav- 
ing proceeded in divinity, he became doctor in that fa- 
culty, and Henry VHL being informed of his abilities, 
employed him as tutor to his natural son, the duke of 
Kichmond. This promotion led to higher; for, being in- 
troduced at court when the question respecting the king's 
divorce was agitated. Dr. Croke was thought a proper per- 
son to be sent abroad, in order to influence the university 
of Padua to the king's side ; which he successfully accom- 
plished, although the enemies of that divorce sa}', not in 
the most honourable manner. From Collier we learn that 
Croke owns, in a letter to his royal master, that he had 
paid various sums to at least five of the members of the 
universities of Padua and Bologna, in order to keep them 
steady to the cause. But Burnet appears to explain this 
matter more to Croke's honour. 

On his return to England, the university of Oxford in- 
vited him to settle there, with which he complied in 1532, 
and taught Greek in Peckwater school (on the site of which 
Peckwater quadrangle is built), and soon after he was 
made a canon of Cardinal Wolsey's college, which he held 
until 1 545, when he removed to Exeter college on a pen- 
sion of 26/. 1?js. Gd. per annum, from the smallness of 
which it has been inferred that he had not now the same 
interest at court as formerly ; but long before this, in 1 532, 
when, upon the death of dean Higden, the canons sup- 



C R O K E. 33 

plicato.l his majesty, through lord Cromwell, that he might 
be appointed to that office, the request was denied, nor 
was he afterwards made a canon of tlie college upon the 
new foundation by Henry VIII. when it had the name of 
the King's college. It appears by his will that he had only 
the living of Long Buckby, in Northamptonshire, which 
Dodd supposes was conferred upon him in queen Mary's 
time. The same historian thinks that in king Edward's reign 
he did not go all the lengths of the reformers, and gives 
as a proof some reflections against Leland on account of 
his inconstancy in religion. There can be no doubt, how-- 
ever, of Dr. Croke's remaining firm in the pojjish religion, 
for we find him enumerated among the witnesses appointed 
to discover heresy in archbishop Cranmer's writings. Dr. 
Croke died at London m 1558, but where buried is not 
known. His writings are, 1. " Oratio de Grcecarum disci- 
plinarum laudibus," dated July 1519, and probably printed 
about that time, 4to. It is dedicated to his fellow colle- 
gian, Nicholas West, bishop of Ely ; and the date shows 
the error of those biographers who inform us that he was 
not chosen Greek professor at Cambridge until 1522. ^V'ith 
this is printed " Oratio qua Cantabrigienses est hortatus, 
ne GrKcarum literarum desertores essent." Before, and 
at the end of these ovations, Gilbert Ducher wrote an 
epistle in praise of Croke's learning. 2. " Introductiones 
ad Grnecam linguam," Cologn, 1520, 4to. 3. " In Au- 
sonium annotationes." 4. " Eleu^jenta Gr. Gram." 5. " De 
Verborum constructione." His Letters from Italy to Hen- 
ry VIII. on the subject of the divorce may be seen in Bur- 
net's History of the Reformation, with a full account of his 
proceedings there, which gives us no very favourable no- 
tion of the liberality of his royal employer, and proves that 
Collier's accusation of bribery has not much foundation. 
Croke is also said to have made some translations from the 
Greek of Theodore Gaza and Elysius Calentinus. Hody 
says that he and Erasmus translated Gaza's Greek Gram- 
mar in 1518, which may be the same mentioned above; 
and we suspect that the work " De Verborum construc- 
tione" is also from Gaza. Bale and Pits are seldom to 
be depended on in the titles of books. The fame of Croke 
has been recently revived on the continent by John Gott. 
Boehmius, in his *' Specimen Literaturjc LijisiciE SiecuIo 
XVI." 1761, 4to, in which he notices Croke as the reviver 
of Greek literature in* that university. The same author, 
Vol. XI. D 



34 CROMWELL. 

in his " Opiiscula Academica de Litteratura Lipsiensi,'* 
has published Croke's "Encomium AcademiaeLipsiensis." * 
CROMWELL (Thomas), earl of Essex, an eminent 
statesman in the sixteenth century, was the son of Walter 
Cromwell, a blacksmith, at Putney, near London, and in 
his latter days a brewer ; after whose decease, his mother 
was married to a sheerman in London. Wiiat education 
he had, was in a private school : and all the learning he 
attained to, was (according to the standard of those times), 
only reading and writing, and a little Latin. When he 
grew up, having a very great inclination for travelling, he 
went into foreign countries, though at whose expence is 
not known ; and by that means he had an opportunity of 
seeing the world, of gaining experience, and of learning 
several languages, which proved of great service to him 
afterwards. Coming to Antwerp, where was then a very 
considerable English factory, he was by them retained to 
be their clerk, or secretary. But that office being too 
great a confinement, he embraced an opportunity that of- 
fered in 1310, of taking a journey to Rome*. Whilst he 
remained in Italy he served for some time as a soldier 
under the duke of Bourbon, and was at the sacking of 
Rome : and at Bologna he assisted John Russel, esq. af- 
terwards earl of Bedford, in making his escape, when he 
had like to be betrayed into the hands of the French, 
being secretly in those parts about our king's affairs. It i^ 
also much to his credit, as an early convert to the refor- 
mation, that, in his journey to and from Rome, he learned 
by heart Erasmus's translation of the New Testament. 
After his return from his travels he was taken into the 
family and service of cardinal Wolsey, who is said to have 
first discovered him in France, and who made him his so- 
licitor, and often employed him in business of great im- 
portance. Among other things, he had the chief hand in 

* This opportunity-was an accidental plish the object of tlieir journey, per- 

meetins; with two persons sent from suaded hiia to go along wiihlhemi 

Boston III Lincohishire, with a snmof and, besides the money, Cromwell is 

muney to obtain from the pope a re- said to have so pleased the palate of 

nerval of the indulgences or pardons to the pope (Julius II.) by a present of 

be obtained at the gild of our lady in some dainty jellies, made in the Eng- 

the church of St. JJotolph's in that lish fashion, that he granted him his 

place. Cromwell met them at Ant- request ^ery readily. — Fox's Acts and 

>verp, and they thinking him' better Monuments, 
qualiiled than themselves to accom- 

' Aih. Ox. vol. I.— Dodd's Ch. Hist.— Burnet's Hist. vol. I. p. S7.— Strype's 
Cranmer, p. 'Jl'j, — Jortin's lirasmus, — Saxii Onouiast. 



CROMWELL. $5 

the foundation of the two colleges begun at Oxford and 
Ipswich by that magnificent prelate ; and upon the car- 
dinal's disgrace in 1529, he used his utmost endeavours 
and interest to have him restored to the king's favour : 
even when articles of high-treason against him were sent 
down to the l)ouse of commons, of which Cromwell was 
then a member, he defended his master with so much wit 
and eloquence, that no treason cauld be laid to his charge : 
which honest beginning procured Cromwell great reputa- 
tion, and made his parts and abilities to be much taken 
notice of. After the cardinal's household was dissolved, 
Cromwell was taken into the king's service (upon the re- 
commendation of sir Christopher Hales, afterwards master 
of the rolls, and sir John Russel, knt. above-mentioned) 
as the fittest person to manage the disputes the king then 
had with the pope; though some endeavoured to hinder 
his promotion, and to prejudice his majesty against him, 
on account of his defacing the small monasteries that were 
dissolved for endowing Wolsey's colleges. But he disco- 
vering to the king some particulars that were very ac- 
ceptable to him respecting the submission of the clergy to 
the poj)e, in derogation of his majesty's authority, he took 
him into the highest degree of favour, and soon after he 
was sent to the convocation, then sifting, to acquaint the 
clergy, that they were all fallen into a praemunire on the 
above account, and the provinces of Canterbury and York 
were glad to comprom.ise by a present to the king of above 
100,000/. In 1531 he was knighted ; made master of the 
king's jewel-house, with a salary of 50/. per annum ; and 
constituted a privy-counsellor. The next year he was 
made clerk of the Hanaper, an office of profit and repute 
in chancery ; and, before the end of the same year, chan- 
cellor of the exchequer, and in 1534, principal secretary 
of state, and master of the rolls. About the same time 
he was chosen chancellor of the university of Cambridge ; 
soon after which followed a general visitation of that uni- 
versity, when the several colleges delivered up their char- 
ters, and other instruments, to sir Thomas Cromwell. The 
year before, he assessed the fines laid upon those who having 
40/. per annum estate, refused to take the order of knight- 
hood. In 1535 he was appointed visitor-general of the 
monasteries throughout England, in order for their sup- 
pression ; and in that office is accused of having acted with, 
inuch violence, although in other cases promises and pen- 

D 2 



36 CROMWELL. 

sions were emploj'ed to obtain the compllanceof the monka 
and nuns. But the mode, whatever it might be, gave sa- 
tisfaction to the king and his courtiers, and Cromwell wa^^ 
on July 2, 1536, constituted lord keeper of the privy seal,, 
when he resigned his mastership of the rolls*. On the 
9th of the same month he was advanced to the dignity of 
a baron of this realm, b}' the title of lord Cromwell of 
Okeham in Rutlandshire ; and, six days after, took his 
place in the house of lords. The pope's supremacy being 
now abolished in England, lord Cromwell was made, on 
the 18th of July, vicar-general, and vicegerent, over all 
the spirituality, under the king, who was declared supreme 
head of the church. Li that quality his lordship satin the 
convocation holden this year, above the archbishops, as the 
king's representative. Being- invested with such extensive 
power, he employed it in discouraging popery, and pro- 
moting the reformation. For that j)urpose he caused cer- 
tain articles to be enjoined by the king's authority, dif- 
fering in many essential points from the established system 
of the Roman-catholic religion ; and in September, this 
same year, he published some injunctions to the clergy, 
in which they were ordered to preach up the king's supre- 
macy ; not to lay out their rhetoric in extolling images, 
relics, miracles, or pilgrimages, but rather to exhort their 
people to serve God, and make provision for their families : 
to put parents and other directors of youth in mind to 
teach their children the Lord's-prayer, the Creed, and the 
Ten Commandments in their mother-tongue, and to pro- 
vide a Bible in Latin and English, to be laid in the 
churches for every one to read at their plt^asure. He like- 
wise encouraged tlie translation of the Bible into English; 
and, when finished, enjoined that one of the largest vo- 
lume should be provided for every parish church, at the 
joint charge of the parson and parishioners. These altera- 
tions, with the dissolution of the monasteries, and (not- 
withstanding the immense riches gotten from thence) his 
demanding at the same time for the king subsidies both 
from the clergy and laity, occasioned very great murmurs 
against him, and indeed with some reason. All this, how- 
ever, rather served to establish him in the king's esteem, 

* It would have been well for Crom- the king what he ought to do, and not 

well if ho could have taken the advice what he was ahlc to <lo." Yet a iTii- 

sir Thomas More gave hini, when he nister of this east would not long have 

fiist came to court, namely, " to tell beea minister to Henry VIII. 



CROMWELL. 87 

who was as prodigal of money as he was rapacious ; and 
in lo.'i? his majesty constituted iiim chief justice itinerant 
of all the forests beyond Trent : and on the 26th of August, 
the same year, lie was elected knight of the garter, and 
dean of the cathedral church of Wells. The year follow- 
ing he obtained a grant of the castle and lordship of Oke- 
ham in the county of Rutland ; and was also made con- 
stable of Carisbrook-castle in the Isle of Wight. In Sep- 
tember he published new injunctions, directed to all bi- 
shops and curates, in which he ordered that a I^ble, in 
Kngiish, should be set up in some convenient place in 
every church, where the parishioners might most commo- 
diously resort to read the same : that the clergy should, 
every Sunday and holiday, openly and plainly recite to 
their parishioners, twice or thrice together, one article of 
the Lord's Prayer, or Creed, in English, tiiat they might 
learn the same by heart : that they should make, or cause 
to be made, in their churches, one sermon every quarter 
of a year at Ijeast, in which they should purely and sin- 
cerely declare the very gospel ol Christ, and exhort their 
hearers to the works of charity, mercy, and faith ; not to 
pilgrimages, images, &c. : that they should forthwith take 
down all images to which pilgrima.ges or offerings were 
wont to be made : that in all such benehces upon which 
they were not themselves resident, they should appoint 
able curates : that they, and every parson, vicar, or cu- 
rate, should for every church keep one book of register, 
wherein they should write the day and year of every wed- 
ding, christening, and burying, within their parish ; and 
therein set every person's name that shall be so wedded, 
christened, or buried, &c. Having been thus highly in- 
strumental in [jromoting the reformation, and in dissolving 
the monasteries, he was amply rewarded by the king in 
1539, witli many noble manors and large estates that had 
belonged to those dissolved houses. On the 17th of April, 
the same year, he was advanced to the dignity of earl of 
Essex; ami soon after constituted lord high chamberlain of 
England. Tiie same day he was created earl of Essex he 
procured Gregory his son to be made baron Cromwell of 
Okeham. On the 1 2th of March 15 1^0, he was put in 
commission, with others, to sell the abbey-lands, at twenty 
years' purcliase : uhicii was a thing he had advised the 
king to do, in order to stop the clamours of the people, to 
attach them to his interest, and to reconcile them to the 



38 CROMWELL. 

dissolution of the monasteries. But as, like his old master 
Wolsey, he had risen rapidly, he was now doomed, like 
him, to exhibit as striking an example of the instability of 
human grandeur; and an unhappy precaution to secure (as 
he imagined) his greatness, proved his ruin. Observing 
that some of his most inveterate enemies, particularly 
Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, began to be more in 
favour at court than himself, he used his utmost endeavours 
to procure a marriage between king Heiu'y and Anne of 
Cleves, expecting great support from a queen of his 
own making; and as her friends were Lutherans, he ima- 
gined it would bring down the popish party at court, and 
again recover the ground he and Cranmer had now lost. 
But this led immodiaiely to his destruction ; for the king, 
not liking the queen, bt-gan to hate Cromwell, the great 
promoter of the marriage, and soon found an opportunity 
to sacrifice him ; nor was this difficult. Cromwell was 
odious to all the nobility by reason of his low birth : hated 
particularly by Gardiner, and the Roman catholics, for 
having been so busy in the dissolution of the abbies : the 
reformers themselves found he could not protect them 
from persecution ; and the nation in general was highly 
incensed against him for his having lately obtained a sub- 
sidy of four shillings in the pound from the clerg}-, and 
one tenth and one fifteenth from the laity; notwithstanding 
the immense sums that had flowed into the treasury out of 
the monasteries. Henry, with his usual caprice, and with- 
out ever considering thut Cromwell's faults were his own, 
and committed, if we may use the expression, for his own 
gratification, caused him to be arrested at the council ta- 
ble, by the duke of Norfolk, on the 10th of June, when he 
least suspected it. Being committed to the Tower, he 
wrote a letter to the king, to vindicate liimself from the 
guilt of treason ; and another concerning his majesty's mar- 
riage with Anne of Cleves; but we do not find that any 
notice was taken of these : yet, as his enemies knew if he 
were brought to the bar he would justify himself by pro- 
ducing the king's orders and warrants for what he had 
done, they resolved to prosecute him by attainder; and 
the bill being brought into the house of lords the 17th of 
June, and read the first time, on the l^th was read the 
second and third times, and sent down to the commons. 
Here, however, it stuck ten days, and at last a new bill of 
attainder was sent up to the lords, framed in the house of 



CROMWELL. 39 

commons : and they sent back at the same time the bill 
the lords had sent to them. The grounds of his condemna- 
tion were cliierty treason and heresy; the former very 
confusedly expressed. * Like other falling favourites, he 
was deserted by most of his friends, except archbishop 
Cranmer, who wrote to the king in his behalf with great 
boldness and spirit. But the duke of Norfolk, and the 
rest of the popish party, prevailed ; and, accordingly, in 
pursuance of his attainder, the lord Cromwell was brought 
to a scaflbld erected on Tower-hill, where, after having 
made a speech, and prayed, he was beheaded, July 28, 
1540. His death is solely to be attributed to the ingrati- 
tude and caprice of Henry, whom he had served with great 
faithfulness, courage, and resolution, in the most hazard- 
ous, diilicult, and important undertakings. As for the 
lord Cromwell's character, he is represented by popish 
historians as a crafty, cruel, ambitious, and covetous man, 
and a heretic ; but their opponents, on better grounds, 
assert that he was a person of great wit, and excellent 
parts, joined to extraordinary diligence and industry ; that 
his apprehension was quick and clear; his judgment me- 
riiodical and solid ; his memory strong and rational ; his 
tongue fluent and pertinent; his presence stately and 
obligi!>g; his heart large and noble; his temper patient 
and cautious; his correspondence well laid ami constant; 
his conversation insinuating and close : none more dex- 
trous in finding out the designs of men and courts; and 
none more reserved in keeping a secret. Though he was 
raised from the meanest contlition to a high pitch of ho- 
nour, he carried his greatness with wonderful temper; 
being noted in the exercise of his places of judicature, to 
have used much moderation, and in his greatest pomp to 
have taken notice of, and been thankful to mean persons 
of his old acquaintance. In his whole behaviour he was 
courteous and affable to all ; a favourer in particular of the 
poor in their suits ; and ready to relieve such as were in 
danger of being oppressed by powerful adversaries ; and 
so very hospitable and bountiful, that about two hundred 
persons were served at the gate of his house in Throg- 

* The whole charges bear marks of Cromwell, a man of very base and low 

gross misrepresentation and injustice. degree, into his service, advanced iiim 

It is rather singutir that the first should to the litli; of an earl, liScc." Tlie fact 

have been admitted, which is a direct vva«, that every thing- Cromwell did was 

reliection on the king, namely, " That by the king's authority, and too many 

bis majesty having received Thomus things in servile submission to him. 



40 CROMWELL. 

morton -street, London, twice every day, with bread, 
meat, and drink suEHcient*. He must be regarded as one 
of the chief instruments in the reformation : and though 
he could not prevent the promulgation, he stopped the 
execution, as far as he could, of the bloody act of tlie six 
articles. But when the king's command pressed him close, 
he was not firm enough to refuse liis concurrence to the 
condemnation and burning of John Lambert. In his do- 
mestic concerns he was very regular ; calling upon his 
servants yearly, to give him an account of what they had 
got under liim, and what they desired of him ; warning 
them to improve their opportunities, because, he said, he 
was too great to stand long ; providing for them as care- 
fully, as for his own son, by his purse and credit, that they 
might live as handsomely when he was dead, as they did 
when he was ahve. In a woiil, we are assured, that for 
piety towards God, fidehty to his king, prudence in the 
management of affairs, gratitude to his benefactors^ duti- 
fulness, charity, and benevolence, there was not any one 
then superior to him in England. 

Among all the arts of expediency, says Gilpin, laid up 
in the cabinets of princes, the readiest is to sacrifice a 
minister. The death of Cromwell was represented to the 
king as the best mean of composing the people. But 
though prudential reasons may necessitate a prince to dis- 
card a minister, yet guilt only, and that nicely examined, 
can authorize an act of blood. The hand of a tyrant, 
however, generally throws aside the balance. It is a nice 
machine ; and requires pains and temper to adjust it. The 
sword is an instrument more decisive; and of easier dis- 
patch. Henry's v/as always stained with blood — often with 
innocent blood — but never with blood more innocent than 
that of Essex. ' 

* The possession of this house, on twrnty-two feet farther off, without 

\»hich Drapers' hall now stands, has giving- the least notice. This, at least, 

been ohipttcd to Cromwell, as if he says Pennant, shows what .miserable 

liad paid but little regard to his neigli- tenements a certain rank of people 

hour's property. Stowe mentions his had. After Cromwell's fall, his house 

own father as a sufferer j for the earl ami gardens were ])urchabed by the 

arbitrarily loosened from its place a Drapers' eom|)any, in whose possession 

house which stood in Slow's garden, they still continue, 
placed it on rollers, and had it carried 

' Biog. Brit.— Strvpe's Cranmer, p. 26, 27, 33, 35, 37, 40, 45, 46, 51, 55— 5?, 
73, 74, 76, 437, 438.— Strype's Memorials, vol. 1. p. 114, 144, 203, 206, 2t)7, 
211, 245, 303, 307, 321, 322, 323, 325, 340, App. No. 103, p. 356, 365.— Ful- 
ler's Ch. Hist. — Fox's Acts and Monuments. — Burnet's Reformation. — Herbert's 
Life of Henry VHI.— iMorc's Life of sir Thomas More, p. 198, 234.— Nichols's 
|Iist, of Leicestershire, vol. MI. 



CROMWELL. 41 

CROMWELL (Oliver), protector of the common- 
%Ytaltli of Entjrlancl, and one of the most remarkable cha- 
racters in English history, was descended, both by his fa- 
ther and motlier, from families of great antiquity. He 
was the son of Mr. Robert Cromwell, who was the second 
son of sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchinbrooke, in the 
county of Huntingdon, knt. whose great grandfather is 
conjectured to have been Walter Cromwell, the blacksmith 
at Putne}-, spoken of in the preceding article; and his 
graiuimother sister to Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex. 
Yet we are told that when Goodman, bishop of Gloucester, 
who turned papist, and was very desirous of making his 
court to the protector, dedicated a book to him, and pre- 
sented a printed paper to him, by which he pretended to 
claim kindred with him, as being himself someway allied 
to Thomas earl of Essex, the protector with some warmth 
told him, " that lord was not related to his family in any 
decree." For this story, however, told by Fuller, there 
seems little foundation *. Robert Cromwell, father of the 
protector, was settled at Huntingdon, and had four sons 
(including the protector) and seven daughters. Though 
hy the interest of his brother sir Oliver, he was put into 
the commission of the peace for Huntingdonshire, he had 
but a slender fortune ; most of his support arising from a 
brewhouse in Huiuingdcjn, chiefly managed by his wife. 
She was Elizabeth, daughter of a Stewart, of Rothseyth in 
Fileshire, and sister of sir Robert Stewart, of the isle of 
Ely, knt. who has been reported, and not without some 
foundation of truth, to have been descended from the 
royal house of Stuart ; as appears from a pedigree of her 
family still in being. Out of the profits of this trade, and 
her own jointure of 60/. per annum, Mrs. Cromwell pro- 

* We liave not much disturbed the CiomwcU; and has still more minutely 
account in our jjreceding edition, but been pursued by Mr. Gougli in the Bib- 
more am{)le information respecting the liotheca Topographica Briiaunica, No. 
protector's family may be found in XXXI. But for tlie most complete and 
Noble's Memoirs. Some years ago, extensive intelligence, recourse must 
great pains were taken to ot)tain every be bad to Mr. Noble's Metnoirs of the 
possible information concerning the fa- Protectoral House of Cromwell, in 
mily of Oliver Cj-omwell, ami to trace whicli will be found not only whatever 
his tlesccnilauts down to the present could well be collected concerning the 
time. The subject was, in part, be- posterity of the protector, but an ac- 
pun by Mr. Duncombe, or rat.ber by count of all tlie families to which the 
Mr. I.uson, in the appeiwiix to the se- house of Cromwell was allied, as well 
cond v(jlunie of Hughes's Letters; was as of the principal persons who were 
carried on by Dr. Gil)bous, at the end distinguished and employed by Oliver 
pf his fuiierai Sermon for Mr. William duruig his government. 



42 CROMWELL. 

vided fortunes for her daughters, sufficient to marry them 
into good families. The eldest, or second surviving, was 
the wife of Mr. John Deshorough, afterwards one of the 
protector's major-generals ; another married, first, Jloger 
Whetstone, esq. and afterwards colonel John Jones, who 
was executed for being one of the king's judges ; the third 
espoused colonel Valentine Walton, who died in exile j 
the fourth, Robina, married first Dr. Peter French, and 
then Dr. John Wilkins, a man eminent in the republic of 
letters, and after the restoration bishop of Chester. It 
may be also added, that an aunt of the protector's married 
Francis Barrington, esq. from whom descended the Bar- 
ringtons of Essex ; another aunt, John Hampden, esq. 
of Buckinghamshire, by whom she was mother of the fa- 
mous John Hampden, who lost his life in Chalgrave field ; 
a third was the wife of Mr. Whaley, and the mother of 
colonel Whaley, in whose custody the king was while he 
remained at Hampton-court; the fourth aunt married Mr. 
Dunch. 

Cromwell was born in the parish of St. John, Hunting- 
don, where his father mostly lived, April 25, 1599, and 
baptized 2 9th of the same month ; and educated in gram- 
mar-learning at the free-school in that town, under Dr. 
Beard, a severe disciplinarian. We have very different 
accounts of his behaviour while he remained at school : 
some say that he shewed very little propensity to learning; 
others, that he made a great proficiency in it. It is very 
probable that both are wrong ; and that he was not either 
incorrigibly dull, or wonderfully bright ; but that he was 
an unlucky boy, and of an uneasy and turbulent temper, 
is reported by authors of unsuspected veracity. Many 
stories are told of his enthusiasm in this early part of his life; 
one of which we shall mention : lying melancholy upon his 
bed, in the day-time, he fancied he saw a spectre, which 
told him, that he should be the greatest man in the king- 
dom. His father, being informed of this, was very angry, 
and desired his master to correct him severely, which, 
however, had no great effect ; for Oliver was still persuaded 
of the tiling, and would sometimes mention it, notwith- 
standing his uncle Stewart told him, " it was too traitorous 
to repeat it." Sir Philip Warwick tells us, that he was 
very well acquainted with one Dr. Simcot, Cromwell's 
physician in the earlier part of his life, who assured him, 
that he was a very fanciful man, and subject to great dis- 



CROMWELL. 43 

orders of imagination : and it is certain, that he was not 
ahogcther free from these tits during his whole Hfe, not 
€ven in the iieight of his prosperity. 

From Huntingdon he was removed to Sidney college in 
Cambridge, where he was admitted fellow-commoner, 
April 23, 1616. The entry of his admission is in these 
words : " Oliverus Cromwell, Huntingdonensis, admissus 
ad commeatum sociorum coll. Siden. Aprilis 23, 1616; 
tutore M. Ricardo Howlet." VVe have very different ac- 
counts of the progress he made in iiis studies while a mem- 
ber of the university. It is certain that he was acquainted 
with Greek and Roman history ; but whether he acquired 
this knowledge at Cambridge, is a point that may be 
doubted ; since, as several writers inform us, he spent 
much of his time there at foot-ball, cricket, and other ro- 
bust exercises, for his skill and expertness in which he was 
famous. His father dying about two years after he had 
been at college, he returned home ; where the irregularity 
of his conduct so disturbed his mother, that, by the ad- 
vice of friends, she sent him to London, at.d placed him 
in Lincoln's-inn. But here, instead of applying to the 
studv of the law, he gave himself up to wine, women, and 
play; so that he quickly dissipated what his father had left 
him. His stay at Lincoln's-inn could not be lonsr, nor was 
this season of wildness of much continuance ; for he was 
married when he was twenty-one years of age, as appears 
from the parish register of 8t. John, Huntingdon ; in 
which we find, that his eldest son Robert, who died a child, 
was born Oct. 8, 1621 ; so that if he staid but two years 
at the university, and it is very probable that he did not 
stay there longer, there was not above two years more for 
his jroinfT to Lincoln's-inn, and runnins: throuorh the whole 
circle of his follies. The lady he married was Elizabeth, 
daughter of sir James Bouchier of Essex, knt. descended 
from the ancient earls of Essex of that name ; whom he 
gained more by the interest of his relations Hampden, Bar- 
rington, Stewart, &c. than by his own. She was a woman 
of spirit and parts, but had not many personal charms, 
and it is said, was not without a considerable share of 
pride. 

Soon after, he returned to Huntingdon, where he led a 
very grave and sober life. Some have imputed this very 
sudden renunciation of his vices and follies, to his failing 
in with the puritans ; but it is certain, that he remained 



4* CROMWELL. 

then, and for some time after, a eealous member of the 
church of England, and entered into a close friendship 
with several eminent divines. He continued at Hunting- 
don till an estate of above 400/. a year, devolving to him 
by the death of his uncle sir Thomas Stewart, induced him 
to remove into the isle of VAy. It was about this time that 
be began to fall off from the church, and to converse with 
the puritans, whose notions he soon alter embraced with 
his usual warmth, and with as much sincerity as could be 
expected from one who was so soon to convert these no- 
tions into the instruments of ambition. He was elected a 
member of the third parliament of Charles I. which met 
Jan. 20, 1628; and was of the committee for religion, 
where he distinguished himself by his zeal against popery, 
and by complaining of Neile bishop of Winchester's li- 
censing books which had a dangerous tendency. After the 
dissolution of that parliament, he returned into the conn- 
try, where he continued to express much concern for re- 
ligion, and to frequent silenced ministers, and to invite 
them often to lectures and sermons at his house. By this 
he brought his affairs again into a verj' indifferent situation, 
so that, by way of repairing his fortune, he took a farm at 
St. Ives, which he kept about five years, but which he 
mismanaged, and would have been ruined if he had not 
thrown it up. These disappointments revived in him a 
scheme, which his bad circumstances first suiroested while 
at Lincoln's-inn, of going over into New I'jigland. This 
was in 1637; and his design, it is thought, had certainly 
been executed, if he had not been hindered by the issuing 
out a proclamation for restraining such embarkations. The 
next year he had less time upon his hands ; for the earl of 
Bedford, and some other persons of high rank, who had 
large estates in the fen countr}', were very desirous of see- 
ing it better drained ; and though one project of this sort 
had failed, they set on foot another, and got it counte- 
nanced by royd\ authority, and settled a share of the pro- 
fits upon the crown. This, though really intended for a 
public benefit, was opposed as injurious to private pro- 
perty; and at the head of the opposition was Cromwell, 
who had a considerable interest in those parts. The acti- 
vity and vigilance which he shewed upon this occasion, 
first rendered him conspicuous, and gave occasion to his 
friend and relation Hampden, to recommend him after- 
wards in parliament, as a person capable of contriving and 



C R O ]M W E L L. 4.5 

conducting great things. Notwithstandisig this, he was 
not very successful in his opposition, and, as his private 
all'airs were still declining, he was in a very necessitous 
condition at the approach of the long parliament. 

In these circumstances one might wonder, how he should 
form a design, at a time when elections were considered as 
things of the utmost consequence, of getting himself 
chosen, niore especially for the town of Cambridge, where 
he was so far from having any interest, that he was not so 
much as known ; and, if he had been known, would never 
have been elected. But the whole of that affair was owino- 
to an accidental intrigue, in which himself had at first no 
hand. One reason why he quitted Huntingdon was, a dis- 
pute he had with Mr. Bernard, upon his becoming re- 
corder, about precedency ; a point in which he was very 
nice. After he came to Ely, he resorted entirely to non- 
conformist meetings, where he quickly distinguished him- 
self by his gifts, as they were styled in those days, of 
preaching, praying, and expounding. At one of these 
meetings he met with Richard Tims, a tradesman of Cam- 
bridge, who rode every Sunday to Ely for the sake of pure 
doctrine ; and captivated his heart entirely. This man, 
hearing that a parliament was to be called, and being him- 
self one of the common- council, took it into his head, that 
there could not be a fitter man to be their burgess tliau 
Mr. Cromwell; and with this notion he went to Wilclbore, 
a draper in the town, and a relation of Cromwell's, who 
agreed with him exactly as to the fitness of the person, but 
told him the thing was impossible, as he was not a free- 
man. Tims, not satisfied with that, addressed himself 
next to Evett, a tallow-chandler, who was also a puritan. 
He relished the thought ; but, for the same reason, pro- 
nounced the design impracticable. However, Tims had 
hardly left his house, before Evett sent for him back, and 
whispered, that the mayor had a freedom to bestow, and 
that one Kitchingman, an attorney, who had married his 
wife's sister, and was of their party, had a great inHuence 
over him. He advised him therefore to move Kitching- 
man in it, who was to use his interest with the mayor, 
statmg that Mr. Cromwell was a gentleman of fortune, and 
had a mind to come and live in the town, which was then 
in a poor condition ; but with a strict charge to hide tiie 
true design, alderman French, who was then the mayor, 
being a declared royalist. When they came to roake this 



46 CROMWELL. 

application to him, French said he was sorry, but that in 
reality they came too late, for he had promised his free- 
dom to the king's fisherman. Kitchingman easily removed 
this objection, by undertaking that the town should confer 
a freedom upon the person he mentioned ; and accordingly 
at the next court-day, the mayor declared his intention to 
bestow his freedom on a very worthy gentleman of the isle 
of Ely, one Mr. Cromwell ; who, being apprized of his 
friend's indastry, came to town over night, and took up 
his lodgings at Almond's, a grocer. Thither the mace 
was sent for him, and he came into court dressed in scarlet, 
richly laced with gold ; where, having provided plenty of 
claret and sweetmeats, they were so well circulated among 
the corporation, that they unanimously declared Mr. Mayor's 
freeman to be a civil worthy gentleman. When the elec- 
tion came on, the mayor discovered his mistake ; but it 
was then too late, for the party among the burgesses was 
strong enough to choose him, which they accordingly did 
at the. next election the ensuing year. 

When he came into parliament, he was very constant in 
his attendance, and a frequent speaker; though he did not 
at that time discover any of the great qualities which after- 
wards appeared, and which seem to have been called out 
as occasion required. He affected not only plainness but 
carelessness in dress, was very uniform in his conduct, and 
spoke wqrmly and roundly, but without either art or elo- 
cution. He was very forward in censuring what were called 
grievances, both in church and state, though he had not 
framed to himself any plan of reformation. This he frankly 
acknowledged, with respect to ecclesiastical affairs, when 
pressed by sir Thomas Chicheley and Mr. Warwick to de- 
clare his sentiments on that subject. " I can tell," said 
Cromwell, " what I would not have, though I cannot tell 
what I would have." He was very zealous in promoting 
the remonstrance, which was carried Nov. 14, 1641, and 
which in reality laid the basis of the civil war; and de- 
clared to lord Falkland afterwards, that if the remonstrance 
had not been carried, he was resolved to have convened 
the small remains of his estate into ready money the next 
day, and to have quitted the kingdom upon the first op- 
portunity. His firnmess upon this occasion recommended 
him so effectually to Hampden, Pyni, and the rest of the 
leaders on that side, that thev took him into all their coun- 
cils ; where he acquired that clear insiglit into thmgs, and 



C R O M W E L L. 47 

knowledge of men, of which afterwards he made siicli 
astonishing use. As soon as the parliament formed any 
scheme of raising forces, which was in the beginning of 

1642, Cromwell shewed his activity, by going immediately 
to Cambridge ; where he soon raised a troop of horse, of 
which himself was appointed commander. He fixed his 
head quarters there, where he acted with great severity ; 
towards the university especially, after he missed seizing 
the plate which was contributed by the loyal colleges for the 
king's service, and sent down to the king when he set up 
his standard at Nottingham. It was probably about the 
same time that Cromwell had a very remarkable interview 
with his uncle, of which sir Philip Warwick had an account 
from the old g-entleman himself. " Visiting old sir Oliver 
Cromwell, his uncle and godfather, at nis house at Ram- 
sey, he told me this story of his successful nephew and 
godson, that he visited him with a good strong party of 
horse, and that he asked him his blessing ; and that the 
few hours he was there, he would not keep on his hat in 
his presence ; but at the same time that he not only dis- 
armed, but plundered him, for he took away all his plate." 
He was more successful in his next enterprise; for being 
informed that the king had appointed sir Thomas Conings- 
by sheriff of Hertfordshire, and had sent him a writ, re- 
quiring him to proclaim the earl of Essex and his adherents 
traitors, Cromwell marched with his troop directly to St. 
Alban's, where he seized sir Thomas Coningsby for that 
action, and carried him prisoner to London. He received 
the thanks of the parliament for this ; and we find liim soon 
after at the head of 1000 horse, with the title of colonel. 
Strange as it may be seem, it is conhrmed by historians on 
all sides, that, though he assumed the military character 
in his 43d year, in the space of a few months he not only 
gained the reputation of an officer, but really became a 
good one; and still stranger, that by mere dint of disci- 
pline he made his new-raised men excellent soldiers, and 
laid the foundation of that invincible strength, which he 
afterwards exerted in behalf of the parliament. 

The nature of our work will not suffer us to enter into a 
detail of all Cromwell's exploits in the course of the civil 
war : we must content ourselves with ujentionintj in a ne- 
neral way some few memorable acts, referring our reader 
to histories for more particular accounts. In the spring of 

1643, having settled matters in the six associated counties 



48 C R O xM W E L L. 

of Essex, Hertford, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and 
Huntingdon, he advanced into Lincolnshire, where he did' 
great service by restraining the king's garrison at Newark, 
giving a check to tlie earl of Newcastle's troops at Horn- 
castie, and performing many other services, which increased 
his credit with the parliament. The Scots having been 
invited to England by the parliament, it was judged iiio-hly 
requisite that the army under the earl of Manchester and 
Cromwell, who was now declared lieutenant-general of 
the horse, should join them, the better to enable them to 
reduce York, which they had closely besieged. This 
service was performed with great vigour and diligence, 
especially by Cromwell ; for though the earl had the title, 
the power was chiefly in Cromwell ; and things were so 
dextrously managed between him and his friends at West- 
minster, that, as they knew they might depend upon him, 
they took care to put as much in his hands as they could. 
In the battle of Marston-moor, fought July 3, 1644, it is 
unanimously agreed, that Cromwell's cavalrv, who were 
commonly styled Ironsides, changed the fortune of the 
day, as that battle did of the war ; for the king's affairs 
declined, and the parliament's flourished ever after. 
Some, however, though they allow this readily to Crom- 
well's forces, have yet represented him as acting in a piti- 
ful cowardly manner, and so terrified, as even to run 
away : but allowance must be made for the relators. It is 
certain, that on the 19th of the same month he stormed 
the earl of Exeter's fine house at Burleigh ; and no man's 
courage, conduct, and services, were more valued at Lon- 
don. He was also in the second battle at Newbury, Sept. 
17, in the same year, and is said to have made so bold a 
charge with his horse upon the guards, that his majesty's 
person had been in the utmost danger, if the old earl of 
Cleveland had not come in to his relief, and preserved his 
master's liberty at the expence of his own. Aud in the 
winter, when the disputes in parliament ran higher than 
ever, nothing but Cromwell's merit and good fortune were 
talked of by his party ; some of whom even styled him the 
saviour of the nation. 

The wisest men and the best patriots saw very clearly 
whither these excessive praises tended. That the nation 
might be made as fully convinced of it, the earl of Man- 
chester exhibited a charfje asjainst him in the house of 
lords; ai:d Cromwell, in return, brought another against 



C R O M WELL. 49 

the noble peer in the house of commons. It is true, that 
neither of these charges was prosecuted ; but it is equally 
true, that Cromwell and his friends absolutely carried their 
point, by bringing in what was called the self-denying or- 
dinance, which excluded the members of either house 
from having any commands in the army ; from which, 
however, on account of his extraordinary merit, which 
set him above all ordinances, Cromwell was at first occa- 
sionally, and at length a'together exempted. From being 
lieutenant-general of the horse, he became lieutenant-ge- 
neral of the army ; and he procured an address from hi* 
regiment, declaring their satisfaction with the change. He 
continued to distinguish himself by his military successes, 
and to receive the thanks of both houses for the services 
he did. He shone particularly at the battle of Naseby, 
June 14, 1C46, and had also his share in reducing the 
westj till, upon the surrender of Exeter, April 13, 1645, 
he found leisure to return to London. Upon taking his 
seat in the house, thanks were returned him, in terms as 
strong as words could express ; and the prevailing party 
•there received from him such encouragement, as induced 
them to believe he was wholly at their devotion. But in 
this they were mistaken ; for while they thought the lieu- 
tenant-general employed in their business, he was in 
reality only attentive to his own. Thus, when the parlia- 
ment inclined to disband a part of their forces, after the 
king had delivered himself to the Scots and the Scots 
had agreed to deliver him to the parliament, Crom- 
well opposed it vigorously, if not openly. For, in the first 
place, he insinuated by his emissaries to the soldiers, that 
this was not only the highest piece of ingratitude towards 
those who had fought the parliament into a power of dis- 
banding them, but also a crying act of injustice, as it was 
done with no other view than to cheat them of their ar- 
rears. Secondly, he procured an exemption for sir Tho- 
mas Fairfax's army, or, in other words, for his own, th^ 
general only having that title and appointments, while 
Cromwell had the power ; and the weight of the reduction 
fell upon Massey's brigade in the west, together with the 
troops which colonel Poyntz commanded in Yorkshire ; 
men of whom he had good reason to doubt, but upon whotn 
the parliament might have depended. Thus he dextrously 
turned to his own advantage the means which, in truth, 
were contrived for his destruction. 
Vol. XI. E 



50 CROMWELL. 

Nov. 12, 1646, the army marched triumphantly through 
London ; and in February following, tiie Scots liaving re- 
ceived the money agreed on, delivered up the king, who 
was carried prisoner to Holmby. At this time Cromwell 
had a most difficalt part to play. What wore the legal 
appearance of power was evidently in the hands of the par- 
liament, in which the presbyterian party was still prevalent; 
and as the general sir Thomas Fairfax was likewise in that 
interest, the real power seemed also to be on their side. 
At bottom, however, the army, now taught to know their 
ftvvn strength, were in reality the masters ; and they were 
entirely directed by Cromwell, though they knew it not 
themselves. He saw the necessity of having a strong place, 
and getting the king's person into their power ; and he 
contrived to do both, without seeming to have a hand in 
either. Oxford was at that time in a good condition, and 
well supplied with artillery, upon which the army seized 
it, with the magazines, and every thing else ; and Crom- 
well, then at London, prevailed upon cornet Joyce to 
seize the king's person with a strong detachment of horse, 
not only without the general's orders, but without any 
orders at all, except those verbal instructions from Crom- 
well. This was executed June 4, 1647, notwithstanding 
the parliament's commissioners were then with the king ; 
who was conducted from Holmby to Childersly, in Cam- 
bridgeshire, then the army's head quarters. Here, through 
themanagementchiefly of Cromwell and his son-in-law com- 
missary Ireton, the king was treated, not only with reverence, 
but with kindness ; and when sir Thomas Fairfax, who 
knew nothing of the taking of the king away, and disliked 
it, would have sent him back again with the commissioners, 
under the guard of two regiments of horse, the king abso- 
lutely refused to move. Nay, to such a degree was that 
monarch convinced of the sincerity of his new friends, that 
he had the indiscretion to tell sir Thomas Fairfax, when 
he made him a tender of his duty and respect, with pro- 
mises of fair treatment, that " he thought he had as good 
an interest in the army as himself." 

The remaining six months of this year were the most 
criticalof Crouivvell's whole life; for in order to succeed 
in his schemes, it was absolutely necessary for him to de- 
ceive the king, the parliumont, and the army, which in 
turn was effected, though not uitliout danger and diffi- 
culty. The king relied entirely uj)<.)ii Cromwell and Ire- 



CROMWELL. 51 

ton ; and tliey, on the other hand, spoke of and acted 
towards him in such a manner, that they were looked upon 
as absolute courtiers. Nor is it at all wonderful that the 
king gave credit to them, when they prevailed on the 
army to send a letter to the parliament, delivered July 9, 
1647, avowing the king's cause to be theirs, and that no 
settlement could be hoped for, without granting him his 
just rights. As to the parliament, so long as they enjoj'ed 
their power, Cromwell always spoke the language of a 
member of the house of commons : siiewed a liiiih regard 
tor their privileges ; and professed, that he was suspected 
and disliked by the army, for his attachment to the civil 
government. This did not, however, hinder his being 
disbelieved by many, till at length he found it necessary 
for his own safety to make his escape from the house with 
some precipitation. That mutinous spirit which the sol- 
diers discovered against the parliament, was raised, fo- 
mented, and managed by Cromwell and Ireton ; the 
former declaring at Triploe-heath, when the parliament 
had been obliged to erase their own declaration out of 
their journals, that *' now they might be an army as long 
as they lived." 

Soon after this, a new party sprung up among the sol- 
diers, under the title of Levellers, who made no secret of 
their hating equally both king and parliament; and it was 
to save himself from these people, who, as he was in- 
formed by Cromwell, sought his life, that the king, Nov. 11, 
fled from Hampton-court to the Isle of Wight, after having 
rejected the parliament's proposals by Cromwell's and 
Ireton's advice. Immediately after this, Cromwell altered 
his behaviour to the king entirely ; for, having made use 
of the king's presence to manage the arm}', and of the 
power which the army had thereby acquired, to humble 
and debase the parliament, there remained no end to be 
answered by keeping measures any longer with the king. 
The parliament, now much altered from what it was, upon 
the king's refusing to pass four bills they had sent him, 
fell into very warm debates ; in which it is asserted that 
Cromwell was a principal speaker, and inveighed bitterly 
against his majesty, saying, " the king was a very able 
man, but withal a great dissembler ; one in whom no trust 
could be reposed, and with whom, therefore, they ought 
to have nothing to do for the future." However this might 
be, the parliament, Jan, 5, voted that no more addresses 

£ 2 



52 C R O M W ELL. 

should be made to the king ; and from that time he was 
more strictly imprisoned than ever. In the mean time, 
there were risings in several parts of the kingdom ; which 
employing the military power, the city of London and the 
parliament were left in some measure at liberty to pursue 
their own sentiments ; and what these were, quickly ap- 
peared ; for on June 27, 1648, the city petitioned for a 
personal treaty with the king, which was very well re- 
ceived, and some steps taken to advance it. A few days 
after, the commons recalled their vote for n on -addresses, 
began a personal treaty with the king at the Isle of Wight, 
and at length voted his majesty's concessions satisfactory, 
and an attempt was even made to impeach Cromwell of 
high treason. But the army having now reduced all oppo- 
sition, and returning towards London, Nov.' 20, sent a 
remonstrance to the house of conmions, disapproving all 
they had done. The remonstrance was carried by colonel 
Ewers, who went next into the isle of Wight, where he 
seized the person of the king, and carried him to Hurst 
castle. This was resented by the parliament, who com- 
manded the general to recall his orders ; but instead of 
this, the army marched directly to* London, and in De- 
cember, took possession of it; purged, as they called it, 
the house of commons, turning out the greater part of its 
members, and then forcing the rest to do what they pleased. 
In most of these proceedings Cromwell appeared very 
active, and is, with good reason, believed to have directed 
them all. 

It is not necessary to dwell particularly upon those w^ell- 
known circumstances relating to the king's being brought 
before the high court of justice, and to the sentence of 
death passed upon him there ; since the part Cromwell 
acted therein w-as of)eii and public. He sat at the court ; 
he signed the warrant; and he prosecuted the accomplish- 
ment of it by the bloody execution of the king. When 
the first proposition was made in the house of commons 
for trying the king, he rose up, and said, that " if any 
man moved this upon design, he should think him the 
greatest traitor in the world ; but since Providence and ne- 
cessity had cast them upon it, he should pray God to bless 
their councils, though he was not provided on the sudden 
to give them counsel." But not long after, he was ; for, 
being a great pretender to enthusiasm raid revelations, he 
told then\ with consummate hypocrisy, that as he was 



CROMWELL. 58 

praying for a blessing from God on his undertaking to re- 
store tlie king to his pristine majesty, his tongue cleaved 
to the roof of his mouth, that he could not speak one word 
more ; which he took as a return of prayer, that God had 
rejected him from being king. Many applications were 
made to Cromwell for saving the king's life ; and some of 
the passages relating to them are worth notice. One of 
the most remarkable, which greatly illustrates the character 
of the man, is the transaction between the lieutenant- 
general and a cousin of his, colonel John Cromwell, an 
officer in the service of the States. This gentleman is said 
to have been in England while the king was in the hands 
of the army ; and tiiat, in a conference he had with the 
lieutenant-general, the latter made use of this expression, 
" 1 think the king the most injured prince in the world;" 
and then, clapping his hand upon his sword, added, " But 
this, cousin, shall do him right." The colonel returning 
to Holland soon after, reported what he took to be truth, 
that the lieutenant-general had a great respect for the king. 
When therefore the news of the king's trial reached Hol- 
land, he was sent over with letters credential from the 
States, to which was added a blank with the king's signet, 
and another of the prince's, both confirmed by the States, 
for Cromwell to set down his own conditions, if he would 
now save his majesty's life. The colonel went directly to 
his kinsman's house ; who was so retired and shut up ia 
his chamber, with an order to let none know he was at 
home, that it was with much difficulty he obtained admit- 
tance, after he had d^^clared who he was. Having mu- 
tually saluted each other, the colonel desired to speak a 
few words with him in private; and began with much free- 
dom to set before him the heinousness of the fact then 
about to be committed, and with what detestation it was 
looked upon abroad ; telling him, that " of all men living 
he could never have imagined he would have had any hand 
in it, who in his hearing had protested so much for the 
king." To this Cromwell answered, " It was not he, but 
the army ; and though he did once say some such words, 
yet now times were altered, and Providence seemed to 
order things otherwise." And it is said he added, that 
" he had prayed and fasted for the king, but no return 
that way was yet made to him." Upon this the colonel 
stepped a little back, and suddenly shut the door, which 
made Cromwell apprehend he was going to be assassinated; 



54 CROMWELL. 

but pulling out his papers, he said to him, " Cousin, this 
is no time to trifle with words : see here, it is now in your 
own power, not only to make yourself, but your family, 
relations, and posterity, happy and honourable for ever ; 
otherwise, as they changed their name before from Wil- 
liams to Cromwell, (which was the fact, as appears by their 
pedigree), so now they must be forced to change it again: 
for this will bring such an ignominy upon the whole 
generation of them, as no time will be able to deface,*' 
At this Cromwell paused a little, and then said, " I desire 
you will give me till night to consider of it ; and do you 
go to your inn, but not to bed, till you hear from me." 
The colonel did accordingly ; and about one in the morning 
a messenger came to tell him " He might go to rest, and 
expect no other answer to carry to the prince ; for the 
council of officers had been seeking God, as he also had 
done the same, and it was resolved by them all that the 
king must die." 

The government being now entirely changed, for in five 
days after the king's death the house of lords was voted 
useless, it became necessary to think of some expedient 
for managing the executive power ; and therefore it was 
resolved to set up a council of state, of which John Brad- 
$haw was president, and lieutenant-general Cromwell a 
principal member. But before he had well taken posses- 
sion of this new dignity, he was again called to action ; 
aqd that too as hazardous as any in which he had hitherto 
been concerned. The persons he had to engage were part 
of the army he commanded ; who, being dissatisfied on 
some account or other, set forth their sentiments by way 
of remonst;r?ince presented to the general. For this high 
offence they were seized, and tried by a court martial, and 
sentenced to ride with their faces to their horses' tails, at 
the head of their respective corps, with a paper expressing 
their crime fixed on their breasts, after which their swords 
were to be broke over their heads, and themselves cashiered ; 
every circumstance of which was strictly executed, March 6, 
in Great Palace-yard. This served only to increase the 
flame ; for several regiments of horse, and among the rest 
Crorx^well's own, mutinied, put white cockades in their 
hats, and iippointed a rendezvous at Ware ; where Crom- 
well appeared, when he was least suspected, and brought 
v/ith him some regiments quartered at a distance, that he 
could depend on. Here, without any previous expostu- 



CROMWELL. 55 

laiions, he with two regiments of horse surrounded one 
regiment of the mutineers, and calling four men by name 
out of their ranks, obliged them to cast dice for their lives; 
and the two that escaped were ordered to shoot the others, 
which tiiey did ; upon which the rest thought fit to slip 
their white cockades into their pockets, and to secure 
themselves by a submission. The same spirit of mutiny 
broke out in another regiment of horse ; but it was entirely 
subdued by Cromwell, and the fomenters of it punished. 
After this, he and Fairfax vi^ent first to Oxford, where they 
were made doctors in civil law ; and thence to London, 
where they were splendidly entertained by the city, and 
had presents of great value when they took leave. At this 
time England, if not quiet, was totally subdued ; the 
Scots were discontented, but not in arms ; so that Ireland 
became the principal object of the parliament's care, since^ 
in that island, of three parties which had for many years 
been shedding each other's blood, their own was the 
weakest. In August, therefore, 1649, Cromwell embarked 
with an army for Ireland, where his successes, as in Eng- 
land, were attended with so few disappointments, that, by 
June 1650, he had in a manner subdued the whole island. 
By that time his presence was required in England, not 
only by those who wished him well, but even by his most 
inveterate enemies ; and therefore constituting his son-in- 
law Ireton, his deputy, he took ship for Bristol, where, 
after a dangerous passage, he safely arrived, leaving such 
a terror upon the minds of the Irish as made every thing 
easy to those who succeeded him, and completed the con- 
quest of that country. 

His return to London was a kind of tri-umph ; and all 
ranks of people contended, either from love or fear, who 
should shew him the most respect. At his taking"^ his seat 
in the house, he had thanks returned him for his services 
in the highest terms. When these ceremonies were over, 
they proceeded to matters of greater consequence ; for, by 
this time the parliament had another war upon their hands, 
the Scots having invited home Charles 11. and prepared an 
army to invade England. There is no doubt that the par- 
liament would readily have trusted this war to the conduct 
of lord Fairfax, a brave man and good officer ; but Fair- 
fax had taken the covenant, and such were his scruples, 
he could not bring himself to think of breaking it, by at- 
tacking the Scots in their own country, Cromwell thought. 



56 CROMWELL. 

and rightly, that they should not wait for an invasion, but 
prevent one invasion by another ; and therefore pressed 
Fairfax to continue in his command, and the more earnestly, 
because he knew he would not do it ; declaring that he 
thought it a greater honour to serve as his lieutenant-ge- 
neral, than to command in chief the finest army in the 
world. Fairfax, however, remained inflexible in liis reso- 
lution ; so that, June 26, an ordinance passed for repealing 
his commission, and at the same timeanother for appointing 
Cromwell general and commander in chief of all the forces 
of the commonwealth. He had now such power as might 
have satisfied the most ambitious mind ; for though he of- 
fered to resign his lieutenancy of Ireland, the parliament 
would not accept it. He marched with an army to Scot- 
land, and Sept. 3, gained the victory of Dunbar, than 
which none ever did him greater credit' as a commander. 
He continued the war all the winter ; in the spring was se- 
verely attacked by an ague ; of which recovering, he, 
after several successes, forced the king into England, and 
blocked him up in Worcester. Sept. 3, 1651, he attacked 
and carried that city, totally defeated the king's forces, 
and gained what he himself called, in his letter to the par- 
liament, the crowning victory. It is said, that this signal 
stroke of success took Cromwell a little off his guard. He 
would have knighted two of his principal commanders 
upon the field of battle, and was with difficulty dissuaded 
from it : his letter to the parliament on this occasion was 
conceived in higher and loftier terms than usual : and 
Ludlow says, that his behaviour was altered from that day, 
and that all who were about him observed it. It is cer- 
tain, nevertheless, that he afterwards behaved with great 
humility and submission to the parliament j though in the 
mean time he took all care imaginable to make the army 
sensible of their own importance, and to let them see that 
nothing could divide their interests from his own. This 
was the true foundation of his growing greatness, and of 
the gradual declension of the parliament's power; which, 
though they clearly discerned, they knew not how to pre- 
vent. 

He did not remain long with the troops, but directed 
his march to London ; where, besides many considerable 
marks of honour that were paid him, a general thanks- 
giving vvas appointed for his victory, and September 3d 
made an anniversary state holiday. When these ceremo- 



CROMWELL. 57 

nies and acknowledgments were over, lie had leisure to 
look about him, and to consider his own condition as well 
as that of the nation. lie saw himself at present general 
and commander in chief of a great army in E^igland, and 
at the same time was lord lieutenant of Ireland. But then 
he knew that all this was derived to him from the parlia- 
ment ; and he clearly discerned, that, whether indepen- 
dents or presbyterians sat there, they would endeavour to 
perpetuate supreme power in their own hands, which for 
many reasons he disliked. He therefore sifted the most 
eminent persons, in order to find out their sentiments 
about the establishment of the kin^^dom ; which was a new 
phrase invented to cover the design of subverting the par- 
liament. In a meeting among them, held some time after 
the battle of Worcester, he proposed the question fairly ; 
when some declared for a monarchy, as others did for a 
commonwealth : but this conference came to nothing. 
Nov. 7, 16 52, meeting the lord commissioner Whitlocke in 
the Park, he entered into a long discourse with him upon 
this important subject : in which he undertook to shew 
Whitlocke, that the parliament was now become a faction; 
that they were resolved to ruin all, and to rule for ever, 
merely for their own sakes ; that they gave all employ- 
ments to themselves, their relations, aud friends ; that 
they drew every thing within their own cognizance, by 
which the subject lost the benefit of the law, and held his 
property by a precarious tenure ; that, all this considered, 
they had fought themselves into a worse condition ; and 
that, instead of a monarch with a prerogative royal, they 
had now many masters, who made laws and broke them at 
their pleasure ; that, on the other hand, the army was very 
sensible of this ; that they bore it with great reluctance ; 
that they too had great disputes among themselves: and 
that it could not be long before those mischiefs broke out 
into a new flame. Whitlocke very readily agreed, that he 
had described both parties truly; but at the same time 
acknowledged, that, notwithstanding he was acquainted 
with the diseases of the commonwealth, he was entirely 
ignorant of any right method of cure. "What," said 
Cromwell, " if a man should take upon himself to be 
king ?" Whitlocke replied by shewing him, that he would 
get nothing by it; that he had more power already than, 
former kings ever had ; and that by assuming the name, he 
might run great hazard of losing the thing. Cromwell 



58 CROMWELL. 

then pressed to know, what he would hare done ? Upon 
which VVhitlocke proposed compromising matters with 
Charles Stuart: the debating of which Cromwell declined, 
as an affair of much difficulty. Cromwell had many con- 
versations of this sort with the most intelligent of all par- 
ties, none of which diverted him from his secret purpose, 
to possess himself of the regal power, under some name or 
other. 

Notwithstanding this, he behaved in public with great 
decency and duty towards that body of men he was con- 
triving to remove. The whole winter of 1652 was spent 
in contrivances and cabals on both sides ; b}' the friends of 
the parliament to support and maintain its authority, by 
their opponents to bring things into such a situation, as to 
render the necessity of dissolving that assembly universally 
apparent. April 19, 1653, Cromwell .called a council of 
officers once more to debate this point; in which, as he had 
many friends, so he had also some opponents, who insinu- 
ated, that what he did proceeded from self-interest and 
ambition. Major-general Harrison, a zealous fanatic, but 
absolutely deceived by Cromwell, assured the assembly, 
in the sincerity of his heart, that " the lord-general sought 
only to pave the way for the government of Jesus and his 
saints;" to which major Streater briskly returned, that 
'' then he ought to come quickly; for if it was after Christ- 
mas, he would come too late." Upon this, Cromwell ad- 
journed the meeting till the next morning, when a new 
point was started, whether it might not be expedient for 
the house and the army to appoint twenty persons on a 
side to be intrusted with the supreme power ? In the midst 
of this dispute advice came that the house had under con- 
sideration their own dissolution ; and upon this, such as 
were members withdrew, and went thither to promote that 
design. But in reality the parliament had framed a bill, 
to continue themselves to November 5th of the next vear, 
proposing in the mean time to fill up the house by new 
elections. Cromwell, informed what the house was upon, 
was so enraged, that he left the council, and marched 
directly with a party of 300 soldiers to VVestminster. 
There placing some of them at the door, some in the lobby, 
and others on the stairs, he went into the house ; and, 
addressing himself first to his friend St. John, told jiim, 
that *' he then came to do that which grieved him to the 
very soul, and what he had earnestly with tears prayed tq 



C R O M W ELL. 59 

God against; nay, that he had rather be torn in pieces 
than do it ; hut that there was a necessity laid upon hinr 
therein, in order to the glory of God, and the good of the 
nation," I'hen he sat down, and heard their debates for 
some time on the forementioned bill ; after which, calling 
to major-general Harrison, who was on the other side of 
the house, to come to him, he told him, that " he judged 
the parliament ripe for a dissolution, and tins to he the 
time of doing it." Harrison answered, " Sir, the work is 
very great and dangerous ; therefore I desire you seriously 
to consider of it before you engage in it." *' You say 
well," replied Cromwell ; and thereupon sat still for about 
a quarter of an hour. Then the question being put for 
passing the said bill, he declared again to Harrison, " This 
is the time, I must do it :" and so standing up of a sudden, 
he bade the speaker leave the chair, and told the house 
that they had sat long enough, unless they had done more 
good ; that some of them were ^vhoremasters, others 
drunkards, oihers corrupt and unjust men, and scandalous 
to the profession of the gospel ; that it was not fit they 
should sit as a parliament any longer, and therefore he 
must desire them to go away. He charged them with 
not having a heart to do any thing for the public good, 
and with being the supporters of tyranny and oppression. 
AVhen some of the members began to speak, he stepped 
into the midst of the house, and said, " Come, come, I 
will put an end to your prating :" then walking up and 
down the house, he cried out, " You are no parliament, I 
say, you are no parliament;" and stamping with his feet, 
he bid them for shame be gone, and give place to honester 
men. Upon this signal the soldiers entered the house, 
and he bade one of them take away that bauble, pointing 
to the mace ; and Harrison taking the speaker by the hand, 
he came dovvn. Then Cromwell, adtiressing himself again 
to the members, who were al)out an hundred, said, " 'Tis 
you that have forced me to this ; for I have sought the 
Lord night and day, that he would rather slay me, than 
put me upon the doing of this work." And then seizing 
on all their papers, he ordered the soldiers to see the house 
cleared of all members ; and having caused the doors to be 
locked up, went away to VVhitehall. Here he found a 
council of officers still assembled, and this grand point vet 
in debate: upon which he told then) roimdly, " tliey need 
trouble tliemselves no farther about it, for he had done it." 



60 CROMWELL. 

*' Done what?" replied colonel Okey, who was not one of 
his creatures ; and, upon his telling him, expostulated the 
point warmly. But Cromwell talked so much louder than 
he, of the glory of God and the good of the nation, the 
removing of yokes and badges of slavery, that Okey very 
soon thought proper to be sdent, and to wait for the con- 
clusion of the affair. In the afternoon of the same day, 
Cromwell, attended by the majors-general Lambert and 
Harrison, went to the council of state, and, finding them 
sitting, addressed them in the following terms: " Geiule- 
men, if you are met here as private persons, you shall not 
be disturbed ; but, if as a council of state, this is no place 
for you. And since you cannot but know what was done 
at the house this morning, so take notice, that the parlia- 
ment is dissolved." Serjeant Bradshaw boldly answered, 
" Sir, we have heard what you did at the house in the 
morning, and before many hours all England will hear it. 
But, sir, you are mistaken to think that the parliament is 
dissolved, for no power under heaven can dissolve them 
but themselves ; and therefore take you notice of that." 
Some others also spoke to the same purpose : but the 
council finding themselves to be under the same force, all 
quietly departed. 

The true reason why Cromwell thus dismissed this coun- 
cil of state, was, because he intended to have another of 
his own framing ; these being men entirely devoted to the 
parliament, from whom they derived their authority. He 
now projected such measures as appeared to him the most 
proper for the support of that great authority which he 
had attained. He continued for a few days to direct all 
things by the advice of the council of officers ; but after- 
wards a nevv council of state was called, by virtue of letters 
or warraiits under the lord-general's hand. But this con- 
sisting chiefly of fifth-monarchy and other madmen, soon 
dissolved of itself; and then the power returned into the 
hands of Cromwell, from whom it came. Harrison, and 
about twenty more, remained in the house, and seeing the 
reign of the saints at an end, placed one Moyer in the 
speaker's chair, and began to draw up protests ; but they 
were soon interrupted by colonel White with a party of 
soldiers. White asking them what they did there, they 
told him, *' they were seeking the Lord ;" to which he 
replied, " that they might go somewhere else, for to his 
knowledge, the Lord had not been there many years ;" 



CROMWELL. 61 

and so turned them out of doors. The scene thus changed, 
the supreme power was said to be in the council of officers 
again ; and they very speedily resolved, that the lord- 
general, with a select council, should have the administra- 
tion of public affairs, upon the terms contained in a paper, 
entitled *' The Instrument of Government ;" and that his 
excellency should be protector of the commonwealth of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, and have the title of 
Highness. Accordingly he was invested therewith Dec. 
16, 1653, in the court of chancery in Westminster-hall, 
with great solemnity ; and thus, in his 54th year, assumed 
the sovereign power, which he well knew how to exercise 
with firmness. When he had thus reduced the government 
into some order at least, he proceeded very wisely and 
warily ; appointed a privy-council, in which there were 
great and worthy men, who he knew would either not act 
at ail, or not very long with him; hut their names giving 
a sanction for the present, he proceeded, with the advice 
of as many of them as attended, to make several ordi- 
nances that were necessary, as also to dispose matters for 
the holding a new parliament. He applied himself also to 
the settlement of the public affairs, both foreign and do- 
mestic ; he concluded a peace with the states of Holland 
and Sweden ; he obliged the king of Portugal, notwith- 
standing all that had passed between the parliament and 
bim, to accept of a peace upon his terms ; and adjusted 
matters with France, though not without some difficulty. 
As to affairs at home, he filled the courts in Westminster- 
hall with able judges ; and directed the lawyers themselves 
to make such corrections in the practice of their profession, 
as might free them from public odium. The same mode- 
ration he practised in church matters ; professing an un- 
alterable resolution to maintain liberty of conscience. He 
gave the command of all the forces in Scotland to general 
Monk, and sent his son Henry to govern Ireland. By an 
ordujance dated April 12, 1654, he united England and 
Scotland, fixing the number of representatives for the lat- 
ter at 30 ; and soon after he did the same by Ireland. He 
affected to shew great zeal for justice, in causing the bro- 
ther of the ambassador from Portugal to be executed for 
murder; which he did July 10, in spite of the greatest 
application to prevent it. 

But, notwithstanding the pains which he took to gain the 
affections of the people,, he found a spirit rising agains^t 



62 C R O M ^V E L L. 

him in all the three kingdoms ; and his governiTient so 
cramped for want of money, tliat he was under an absolute 
necessity of calling a parliament, according to the form 
which he had prescribed in the Instrument of Government. 
He fixed Sept. 3 for the day on which they were to as- 
semble, esteeming it particularly fortunate to him ; and to 
this he peremptorily adhered, though it happened to fall 
upon a Sunday. The parliament was accordingly opened 
on that day, after hearing a. sermon at Westminster-abbey, 
to which the protector went in very great state. He re- 
ceived this house of commons in the painted chamber, 
where he gave them a full account of the nature of that 
government which he had thought fit to establish, the ends 
he proposed, and the means he had used to promote those 
ends, (Sec. When they came to the house, they fell to 
debating, whether the supreme legislative power of the 
kingdom should be in a single person, or a parliament ; 
which alarming the protector, who found himself in danger 
of being deposed by a vote of this new parliament, he 
caused a guard to be set at the door, on the 12th of the 
same month, to prevent their going into the house of com- 
mons; then sent for them into the painted chamber, where 
he gave them a very sharp rebuke ; nor did he permit any 
to go into the house afterwards, before they had taken an 
oath to be faithful to the protector and his government. 
While this parliament was sitting, an odd accident hap- 
pened to the protector. He had received a set of Fries- 
iand horses from the duke of Holstein as a present; and 
would needs drive his secretary Thurloe in his coach, 
drawn by these horses, round Hyde Park. But the horses, 
proving as ungovernable as the parliament, threw his high- 
ness out of the box, and in his fall one of his pocket pis- 
tols went off; notwithstanding which he escaped, without 
either wound or broken bones. By the Instrument of 
Government, the parliament was to sit five months; but 
finding they were about to take away his power, and would 
give him no money, he, Jan. 23, sent for them once more 
into the painted chamber, where after a long and bitter 
speech he dissolved them. 

The protector's mother lived with him at Whitehall, and 
shared in the splendour of his court, but enjoyed it not. 
Though she troubled him but little with her remonstrances, 
her fears were so strong, that she could not believe he was 
safe if she did not see him twice a day ; and if by accident 



CROMWELL. IS3 

she heard a pistol at any time discharged, she could not 
help crying out, " My son is shot!" She died Nov. 18, 
1654. Cromwell caused her vennains to be interred in 
Henry Vllth's chapel ; but this was contrary to her desire, 
for she easily foresaw that they would never rest in peace 
there. 

The opening of 1655 proved but cloudy : the dissolu- 
tion of the parliament created much discontent in the 
kingdom ; so that Cromwell found himself beset with con- 
spiracies on all sides, and by all parties ; but he had the 
good luck to discover them before they could be executed. 
Upon Feb. 13, he went to Guildhall; and declared, that 
the republicans and cavaliers had formed designs agrainst 
his person. Of the former, major John Wildman, who 
had been an intimate friend of his, was seized while 
penning a paper, entitled " A declaration of the people of 
England against the tyrant Oliver Cromwell ;" and other 
violent men of that party he imprisoned, but was afraid of 
doing more. As to the royalists, he suffered them to go 
on a little; for, by the help of one Manning, who was his 
spy in the court of Charles IL he was so well acquainted 
with their projects, as to put them upon measures which 
turned to his own account. And this is a true solution of 
that insurrection which broke out at Salisbury, where the 
king was proclaimed, and Cromwell's judges seized ; which 
act of open force left no doubt with the public, that there 
were designs against the protector. For this insurrection 
several persons suffered death; and hence the protector, 
who had hitherto shewn an inclination to govern as a law- 
ful prince if he could, seemed to lay aside his disposition, 
and no longer to make any difficulty of supporting his 
authority in any manner and by any means. In the spring 
of this year was carried into execution that famous expe- 
dition, by which the protector hoped to make himself 
master of the Spanish West Indies; where, though his 
forces did not succeed in their main design, yet they made 
themselves masters of Jamaica, which island has remained 
ever since part of the British dominions. I'he alliance 
which had been so long in treaty with the crown of France, 
was signed Nov. 24, 1655, and proclaimed the2Sth; by 
which it was stipulated, that Cromwell should send over a 
body of English troops, to act in conjunction with the 
French against the Spaniards in the Low Countries ; and 
that, on the other hand, the French king should oblige 



€4 CROMWELL. 

the royal family to quit his doininions. The new king of 
Sweden sent over an ambassador to compliment the pro- 
tector. He was most graciously received ; but the in- 
tended visit of queen Christina, who had just resigned the 
crown, he judged proper to avoid. The glorious suc- 
cesses of admiral Biake in the Mediterranean, and the 
great sums he recovered from several powers for depreda- 
tions committed by their subjects on the English mer- 
chants, did mi'.ch honour to the protector's government ; 
and to conclu'ie the transactions of this year, it must be 
allowed, that hovv much soever he might be disliked at 
home, his reputation at this time was very great abroad. 

The loss he sustained in the discovery of Manning, 
whom king Charles caused to be shot- for corresponding 
with Thurloe, was most effectually repaired by a person of 
superior character, who was chancellor Hyde's great cor- 
respondent, and supposed to be one of the most active and 
determined royalists in England. Though the war with 
Spain under Blake's management had brought two millions 
of money into the protector's coffer, he still felt some 
wants, wiiich he judged nothing but a parliament could 
supply ; and having concerted more effectual methods, as 
he conceived, for bending them to his will, than had been 
practised before the last, he fixed the meeting of that 
assembly Sept. 19, 1656. It met accordingly ; but with a 
guard posted at the door of the house, who suffered none 
to enter till they had taken the oaths prepared for them, 
by which many were excluded. The parliament, however, 
chose a speaker; passed an act for disannulling the king's 
title, another for the security of his highness's person, and 
several money bills : for all which the protector gave them 
his most gracious thanks. About the close of this year a 
new plot was either discovered or invented, for which one 
Miles Sindercombe was condemned ; but he disappointed 
the protector, by poisoning himself the night before he 
was to be executed. In the spring of 1657 it plainly ap- 
peared what the protector aimed at, by the pains he had 
taken with the parliament ; for now a kind of legislative 
settlement of the government was upon the carpet, under 
the title of " The humble Petition and Advice * ;" in which 
there was a blank for the supreme governor's title, and a 

* See the principal topics in tliis Petition, reduced into one argument by Dr. 
Johnson, ill llic Gent. Mag. 3741, p. 93. 



CROMWELL. 65 

clause prepared to countenance the establishing something 
like peers, under the name of the other house. At 
length the whole came to light ; for one alderman Pack, a 
forward, time-serving, money-getting fellow, deep in all 
the jobs of the government, moved that the first blank 
might be filled with the word King. This was violently 
opposed by the army-members ; but at length, after vari- 
ous debates, carried, as well as the clause empowering him 
to make something like lords; and in this form the petition 
was presented to his highness, who desired some time to 
consider before he gave his answer. The protector would 
have been glad to have had the kingship forced upon him, 
but that he found some of his best friends and nearest re- 
lations averse to it ; who carried their opposition so far, as 
to ])romote a petition from the army to the parliament 
against it. This determined Cromwell to refuse that 
honour which he had been so long seeking ; and, therefore, 
May 8, 1657, he told them in the banqueting-house, that 
he could not with a good conscience accept the govern- 
ment under the title of king. The parliament then thought 
proper to till up the blank with his former title of protector; 
and his highness himself, that all the pains he had taken 
might not absolutely be thrown away, resolved upon a new 
inauguration, which was accordingly performed June 2G, 
1657, in Westminster-hall, with all the pomp and solem- 
nity of a coronation. After this, the house of commons 
adjourned to Jan. 20th following, in order to give the pro- 
tector tim.e to regulate all things according to the new sys- 
tem ; with a view to which he summoned his two sons, and 
others, to take their seats in the other house. This year 
hG was extremely disconcerted with a small treatise, which 
captain Titus, under the name of William Allen, published 
with this title, " Killing no Murder :" in which was shewn, 
so plainly, that one who had violated all laws, could derive 
protection from no law, that Oliver thenceforward be- 
lieved himself in continual danger. But his attempt to ap- 
prehend the true author failed of success. 

In the beginning of 1658 he pleased himself with the 
hopes of being once at the head of an assembly somewhat 
resembling the ancient parliaments of England ; and, pur- 
suant to their own adjournment, the commons met Jan. 2Q, 
as the other house also did, agreeably to the writs of sum- 
mons issued by the lord protector. He sent for them by 
the black rod, and began his speech with the pompous 

Vol. XI. F 



66 CROMWELL. 

words, " My lords, and you the knights, citizens, and 
burgesses of the house of commons, &c." All this only 
served to shew that his administration was founded in 
military force, and nothing else : for the ancient nobility 
would not resume their seats in such company as he had 
assigned them ; and the house of commons would have no- 
thing to do with the new nobles in the other house ; and 
the new nobles could do nothing by themselves. Thus in 
less than a fortnight the new system was in a fair way of 
being pulled to pieces, which obliged the protector to 
come, Feb. 4th, and to dissolve them with great bitterness 
of speech and sorrow of heart : for now he plainly saw that 
a regular establishment was a thing impracticable. Some 
farther designs against him were soon after discovered, not 
of the cavaliers only, but of the fifth-monarchy men also.' 
With the latter he was obliged to observe some measures ; 
the former he delivered over to a high court of justice. By 
the sentence of that court. Dr. Hewett, a divine of the 
church of England, suffered death for contumacy, June 8, 
1658 ; having refused to plead, or to own the jurisdiction 
of the court. Aug. 6, the protector's favourite daughter 
Elizabeth, wife of John Claypole, esq. of Narborougti in 
Northamptonshire, died, which aff"ected him greatly on 
more accounts than one. For her illness being very pain- 
ful, distempered her mind not a little ; and in her deliri- 
ums she exclaimed vehemently against him for his cruel- 
ties, and especially for the death of Dr. Hewett, on whose 
behalf she had made the most importunate intercession?. 
He is said to have been from that time wholly altered, and 
daily more reserved and suspicious : and indeed not with- 
out reason ; for he found a general discontent prevailed 
through the nation, a signal disaff'ection in the army, and 
a great increase of the influence of the republicans, to 
whom some of his relations, and even his wife, inclined : 
so that he knew not which way to turn, or what to expect. 
These cares bavins: loncc tormented his mind, at last affected 
his body ; so that while at Hampton-court, he fell into a 
kind of slow fever, which soon degenerated into a tertian 
ague. For a week this disorder continued without any 
dangerous symptoms, insomuch that every other day he 
walked abroad ; but one day after dinner his five physi- 
cians coming to wait upon him, one of them having felt 
his pulse, said that it intermitted. At this being some- 
what surprised, he turned pale, fell into a cold sweat, and 



CROMWELL. 67 

when he was ahuost fainting, ordered liimself to be car- 
ried to bed ; where, by the assistance of cordials, being 
brought a httle to iiiaiself, he made his will with respect 
to his private affairs. 

It is impossible to have a better account of his last sick- 
ness, than that given by Dr. Bates, who was his physician. 
After mentioning the circumstance of making his will, h© 
tells us, that the next morning early, when one of his phy- 
sicians came to visit him, he asked him, " why he looked 
so sad r" and, when answer was made, that so it became 
any one, who had the weighty care of his life and health 
upon him ; " Ye physicians," said he, " think I shall die : 
1 tell you, I shall not die this time ; I am sure of it. Do 
not think," said he to the physician, looking more atten- 
tively at him on these words ; " do not think that I am 
mad ; I speak the words of truth upon surer grounds than 
Galen or your Hippocrates furnish you with. God Al- 
mighty himself liath given that answer, not to my prayers 
alone, but also to the prayers of those who entertain a 
stricter commerce and greater interest with him. Go on 
cheerfully, banishing all sadness from your looks ; and 
deal with me as yon would do with a serving-man. Ye may 
have a skill in tlie nature of things, yet nature can do 
more than all physicians put together ; and God is far 
more above nature." He was then desired to take his rest, 
because he had not slept the greatest part of the night; 
and this physician left liun. But as he was coming out of 
the chamber, he accidentally met another ; to whom said 
he, I am afraid our patient will be light-headed. " Then 
(replied the other) you are certainly a stranger in this 
house. Do not you know what was done last night ? The 
chaplains, and all who are dear to God, being dispersed 
into several parts of the palace, have prayed to God for his 
health : and have brought this answer, he shall recover." 
Nay, to such a degree of madness they came, that a pub- 
lic fast being for his sake kept at Hampton-court, they did 
not so much pray to God for his health, as thank him for 
the undoubted pledges of his recovery ; and they repeated 
the same at Whitehall. These oracles of his deluded chap- 
lains were the cause that the physicians spake not~a. word 
of his danger. Being removed to London, he became 
much worse, grew tirst lethargic, then delirious; and after 
recovering a little, but not enough to give any distinct di- 
rections about public affairs, he died Sept. 3, 165S, aged- 

I 2 



63 C R O M W E L L. 

somewhat more than 59 years. A little before his death, 
the physicians awakened the privy-council, by representing 
the danger he was in ; and at an appointed time he was 
urged to name his successor. But when in a drowsy fit he 
answered out of purpose, they again asked him, if he did 
not name Kicharcl his eldest son for his successor ? To 
whicli he answered, Yes. Then being asked where his will 
was, which heretofore he had made concerning the heirs of 
the kingdom, lie sent to look for it in his closet and other 
places; but in vain — for he had either burnt it, or some- 
body had stolen it. It has been imagined that Cromwell 
was poisoned, but without any reason. Dr. Bates gives us 
the following account of his disorder : " His body being 
opened, in the animal parts the brain seemed to be over- 
charged ; in the vitals the lungs a little inflamed ; but in 
the natural, the source of the distemper appeared ; the 
spleen, though sound to the eye, being within filled with 
matter like to the lees of oil. Nor was that inconsistent 
with the disease he had for a long time been subject to ; 
since, for at least thirty years, he had at times complained 
of hypochondriacal indispositions. Though his bowels 
were taken out, and his body filled with spices, wrapped 
in a fourfold cere-cloth, put first into a coffin of lead, and 
then into one of wood, yet it purged and wrought through 
all, so that there was a necessity of interring it before the 
solemnity of the funeral." A very pompous funeral was 
ordered at the public expence, and performed from So- 
merset-house, with a splendour superior to any that has 
been bestowed on crowned heads. Some have related, 
that his body was, by his own particular order, secretly 
buried in Naseby field ; others that it was wrapped in lead, 
and sunk in the deepest' part of the Thames, to prevent 
any insult that might be offered to it; others that it was 
taken from the gallows after the restoration, and deposited 
ill the family-vault of the Claypoles, at Narborough near 
Peterborough. From the account of what passed upon 
the order to disinter him after the restoration, it seems that 
his body was interred at Westminster. " In the middle 
aile of Henry VIFs chapel, at the east end, in a vault, 
was found his corpse. In the inside of the coffin, and upon 
the breast of the corpse, was laid a coppcr-pUite finely 
gilt,, inclosed in a thin case of lead; on the side whereof 
were engraven the arms of England, imj)alcd with the arms 
ul Oliver; mii on the reveri^c the following i^^gcnd : Oli- 



CROMWELL. 69 

v^ius protector reipublicae Angliae, Scotiae, & Hibcrniie, 
uatus 25 April 1599, inauguratus 16 Decembris 1653, 
mortuus 3 Septembris ann. 1658, Hie situs est." But 
this iu some writers is considered as a delusion ; and that 
some other, if not the body of Charles L was inclosed in 
this coffin, which is still a greater delusion and absurdity, 
as a very recent discovery proves. It has also been said, 
that the body of his daughter Claypole was found at the 
same time and place, with a silver plate with an inscrip- 
tion ; but the workmen quarrelling about this plate, it was 
thrown into the vault again. The inscription on it, how- 
ever, was shewn to the Society of Antiquaries, 1738, by 
Dr. Cromwell Mortimer, whose father married to his first 
wife a daughter of Richard Cromwell. The plate on Oli" 
ver's coffin was in 1773 in the possession of the hon. George 
Hobart, of Nocton, in Lincolnshire, and shewn to the 
same society by Mr. Wills, and is engraved in Mr. Noble's 
Memoirs *. 

Odious as Cromwell's reign had been, many marks of 
public approbation were bestowed upon his memory. The 
poems of Waller, Sprat, and Dryden, though the authors 
lived to change their sentiments, give a very high idea of 
him, but allowance must be made for poetical evidence. 
In his life-time his actions had been celebrated by the 
learned abroad, as well as by his own secretary Milton at 
home ; and with these panegyrics he seems not to have 
been displeased. We have indeed various characters of 
him from persons of various sentiments ; yet in most of 
these there seems to be a mixture of flattery or prejudice. 
His panegyrists knew not where to stop their praises ; and 
his enemies were as extravagant in their censures. Lord 
Hoilis, in his " Memoirs," will hardly allow him any great 
or good qualities; and one principal design of Ludlow's 
Memoirs is to represent him as the vilest ot men. Cowley 
seems to have excelled all others, as well in respect to the 

* The protector's body, with that of Charles's death, when the tliree were 

Ireton's, by a vote of the house of com- conveyed upon sled{;es to Tybciin, nitd 

mons, was taken up, Saturday Jan. '26, haiige.d up on the gallons tdi .sun sel, 

1660 ; and on the Monday night follow- then beheaded, and ilieir ti uiiks ilnown 

ing they were drawn in two several into a liole under the gallows, and 

carts to the Red Lion Inn iit llolborn, their heads set upon poles upon the to|» 

where they remained all night. Brad- of Westminster-hail, where Oliver's 

shaw's, included in the same sentence, long remained. OliveV's scull is shewn 

as he had presided at the trial of in different places, a j)roi)f prob;vbly 

Charles I. was not taken up till the that none of Ihciu are genuine, 
morning foUowinij, the anniversary of 



70 C R O M VV E L L. 

matter as the manner of representing him in the different 
lights of praise and censure ; so that his performance may 
justly be esteemed the most perfect of any, as it is beyond 
comparison the most beautiful. It is said, that cardinal 
Mazarine styled him a fortunate madman : but father Or- 
leans, who relates this, dislikes that cliaracter, and would 
substitute in its place that of a judicious villain. Claren- 
don calls him a brave, wicked man : and Burnet is of opi- 
nion, that " his life and his arts were exhausted together; 
and that, if he had lived longer, he would scarce have been 
able to preserve his power." But this only proves, that 
the bishop did not discern what resources he had. " How 
blameworthy soever the protector might have been in the 
acquisition of his high office, or how vvickedly soever he 
acquired it, certain it is, he rivalled the greatest of the 
English monarchs in glory, ahd made himself courted and 
dreaded by the nations around him. The peace he gave 
the Dutch was honourable to himself and the nation ; and 
whether he acted prudenily or not in breaking uith Spain, 
and allying himself with France, the inequality between 
the two crowns was far from being as visible then as it has 
since appeared, and Cromwell always had it in his power 
to throw himself into the opposite scale if necessary ; and 
he distinguished himself by his interposition in beiialf of 
the persecuted subjects of the French crown. His own 
government was, however, far from being free from blame. 
His edict against the episcopal clergy was very cruel, as it 
deprived them in a good measure of their maintenance, 
and liberty of worshiping God in a way that appeared best 
to their own understandiuGfs. The cavaliers had hard mea- 
sure from him, as they were almost without exception sub- 
jected to heav}^ taxes and other inconveniences, on account 
of the rashness and imprudence of some of their party. 
Nor must we forget his institution of major-generals, who, 
in a variety of instances, lorded over an oppressed country; 
nor his sometimes making use of packed juries, and dis- 
placing judges for refusing to follow his directions, esta- 
blishing high-commission courts, and so frequently viola- 
ting the privileges of parliament." Concessions like these 
make part of the character of Oliver Cromwell, as drawn 
by Mr. Harris, a professed advocate: but when he attempts 
to vindicate his illegal and tyrannical actions, on the ground 
of his being disappointed of regal power, and that had he 
accepted the kingship, which was offered by his parlia- 



CROMWELL. 71 

ment, a firmer settlement and a milder administration 
mic'ht have taken place, there seems little reason to doubt 
but the support even of that rank, considering the danger- 
ous and uncertain terms on which he must have held it, 
would have urged him to the same violent and unwarrant- 
able measures. Such biographers as Harris are generally 
employed in striking a balance between good and bad 
deeds ; but it is not a few of the former that can redeem the 
character of Cromwell, who has been more justly said to 
be the strangest compound of villainy and virtue, baseness 
and magnanimity, absurdity and good sense, that we find 
upon record in the annals of mankind. 

In his public way of living, there was a strange kind of 
splendour at Whitehall ; for sometimes his court wore an 
air of stately severity ; at other times he would unbend 
himself, and drink freely — never indeed to excess, but only 
so far as to have an opportunity of sounding men's thoughts 
in their unguarded moments. Sometimes, in the midst of 
serious consultations, he started into buffoonery ; some- 
times the feasts that were prepared for persons of the first 
distinction, were, by a signal of drums and trumpets, made 
the prey of his guards. There was a kind of madness in 
his mirth, as well as of humour in his gravity, and much of 
design in all. Some have commended him for keeping up 
a great face of religion in his court and through the na- 
tion : but it is not easy to know what they mean : certain 
it is, that religion never wore so many faces as in his time ; 
nor was he pleased to discover which face he liked best. 
The presbyterians he hated ; the church of England he 
persecuted; against the papists he made laws; but the 
sectaries he indulged. Yet some of the presbyterian di- 
vines he courted ; affected kindness to a few of the minis- 
ters of the church of England ; and entered into some very 
deep intrigues with the papists. This made sir Kenelm 
Digby's favourite father White write in defence of his 
government, and even of his conduct ; and the popish pri- 
mate of Ireland sent precepts through all his province 
under his seal, to pray for the health, establishment, and 
prosperity of the protector Cromwell and his government. 
With regard to personal religion, it would be dithcult to 
find, or even to conceive, an instance of more consummate, 
impudent hypocrisy than Cromwell exhibited, or a more 
unfeeling contempt for every thing that deserves the name 
of religion, when it interfered with the purposes of his 



t2 CROMWELL. 

ambition. As for the judges in Westminster-hall, he dif-^ 
fered with St. John, and \vas sometimes out of humour* 
with Hale. He set up high courts of justice unknown to 
the lav, and put Dr. Hewett to death for not pleading be- 
fore one of them, though he oft'ered to pleadj if any one that 
sat there, and was a lawyer, would give it under his hand, 
that it was a legal jurisdiction ; and Whitlocke himself 
owns, thatj though he was named in the commission, he 
would never lilt, because he knew it was not lawful. His 
majors-general, while they acted, superseded all law ; and 
the protector himself derided Magna Charta, so much re- 
spected by our kings. He was indeed kind to some 
learned men. Milton and Marvel were his secretaries. He 
would have hired Meric Casaubon to have written his his- 
tory ; and have taken the famous Hobbes into his service 
for writing the Leviathan, probably because in that cele- 
brated work power is made the source of right and the 
basis of religion — the foundation on which CromwelTs sys- 
tem, as well as Hobbes's, was entirely built. He gave 
archbishop Ushr-r a public funeral in Westminster-abbey ; 
yet he paid but half the expence, and the other half proved 
a heavy burden upon that prelate's poor family. And 
when all this is allowed to so inflexible a tyrant, how much 
is deducted from the infamy that attaches to his character? 
The most execrable of mankind are never uniform in vil- 
lainy. 

For his conduct towards foreign courts, it is certain that 
he carried his authority very far ; and perhaps the English 
honour never stood h'gher. The queen of Sweden paid 
great respect to him, who, to express his regard for her 
on the other side, hung her picture in his bed-chamber. 
He treated veiy haughtily the kings of Denmark and Por- 
tugal ; and obliged the ambassador of the latter to come 
and sign the peace at Whitehall, the very morning his 
brother was executed on Tovver-hilh He refused the title 
of cousin from the French khig, expecting that of brother; 
and so artfully played the Spaniard with him at a critical 
conjuncture, that the two crowns contended for his friend- 
ship with an earnestness which made them both ridiculous. 
Their advances were so extraordinary, and their acts of 
submission so singidar, that the Dutch struck a medal, 
with the bust of Cromwell and his titles on one side, with 
Britannia on the other, and Cromwell laying his head in 
her lap with his breeches down and his posteriors bare, the 



CROMWELL. 78 

Spanish ambassador stooping to kiss them, while the French 
amoassatlor holds him by the arm, with these words in- 
scribed, " Retire toi, Thonneur appartient au roi mon 
niaiire :" that is, " Keep back ; that iionour belongs to the 
king my master." 

Very little of Cromwell's private life is known ; he being 
near forty years of age when he first distinguished himself 
in opposing the project for draining of the fens. Yet there 
were some who knew and understood him thoroughly, be- 
fore his extraordinary talents were made known to the 
world ; and in particular his cousin Hampden, of which 
the foUowin": was a remarkable instance. When the de- 
bates ran high in the house of commons, and Hampden 
and lord Digby were going down the parliament stairs, 
witli Cromwell just before them, who was known to the 
latter only by sight : " Pray," said his lordship to Hamp- 
den, " who is tiiat man, for I see that he is on our side, 
by his speaking so warmly to-day?" "That sloven," re- 
plied Hampden, " whom you see before us, who has no 
ornament in his speech ; that sloven, 1 say, if we should 
ever come to a breach with the king, which God forbid ! 
in such a case, I say, that sloven will be the greatest man 
in England." This prophecy, which was so fully accom- 
plished, rose chiefly from the sense Hampden had of 
Cromwell's indefatigable diligence in pursuing whatever 
he undertook. He had another quality, which was equally 
useful to him ; that of discerning the temper of those with 
whom he had to deal, and dealing with them accordingly. 
Before he became commander in chief, he kept up a very 
high intimacy with the private men : taking great pains to 
learn their names, by which he was sure to call them ; 
shaking them by the hand, clapping them on the shoulder; 
or, which was peculiar to him, giving them a slight box on 
the ear; which condescending fanuliarities, with the warm 
concern he expressed for their interests, gave him a power 
easier conceived than described. He tried to inveigle the 
earl of Manchester ; but finding that impracticable, he fell 
upon him in the house of commons, and procured his re- 
moval. He carried himself with so much respect to Fair- 
fax, that he knew not liow to break with him, though he 
knew that he had betrayed him He not only deceived 
Harrison, Bradshaw, and Ludlow, but outwitted Oliver St. 
John, who had more parts than them all ; and he foiled sir 
Henry Vane with his own weapons. In short, he knew 



74 CROMWELL. 

men perfectly, worked them to his purposes as if they 
had been cattle, and, which is still more wonderful, did 
that often while they conceived that they were making a 
tool of him. He had a reach of head, which enabled him 
to impose even upon the greatest bodies of men. He fed 
the resentment of the house of commons against the army, 
till the latter were in a flame, and very angry with him ; 
yet, w^hen he came to the army, it was u])on a flea-bitten 
nag, all in a foam, as if he had made his escape from that 
house ; in which trim he signed the engagement of Trip- 
loe heath, throwing himself from his horse upon the grass, 
and writing his name as he lay upon his belly. He had 
yet another faculty beyond these ; and that was, the art of 
concealing his arts. He dictated a paper once to Ireton, 
which was imposed upon the agitators as if founded upon 
their instructions; who sent it express by two of their num- 
ber to Cromwell, then lieutenant-general, at his quarters 
at Colchester. He was in bed when they came ; but they 
demanded and obtained admittance. When they told him 
their commission, he asked them, with the greatest rage 
and resentment in his look, how they durst bring him 
papers from the army ? They said, that paper contained 
the sense of the army, and they were directed to do it. 
f* Are you sure of that ?" said he, with the same stern 
countenance, " Let me see it." He spent a long time in 
reading it; and, as it seemed to them, in reflecting upon 
it; then, with a mild and devout look, he told them it was 
a most just thing, and he hoped that God would prosper 
it ; adding, " I will stand by the army in these desires vvitl\ 
my life and fortune." 

With such arts and qualities as these, joined to his great 
military skill and reputation, we may account for all his 
successes, and that prodigious authority to which he raised 
himself, without havinsr recourse to that contract of his 
with the devil, of which, as Echard pretends, colonel 
Lindsey was eye and ear-witness. In the course of liis 
lile he was temperate and sober, and despised those who 
were not so. In his family he shewed great kindness, but 
without any diminution of his authority. He was very re- 
spectful to his mother, and very tender to his wife ; yet 
iieiiher had any influence over him. He expressed a deep 
sense of the concern which the former discoveretl for his 
danger, heard whatever she said to him patiently, but 
acted as he thought proper, and, in respect to her burial, 



CROMWELL. 75 

directly against her dying request. His wife is said to have 
made a proposition lending to restore the king ; but he 
rejected it unmoved, as he had shewn himself before, when 
his son Richard threw himself at his feet, to dissuade him 
from taking the king's life. He did not seem otfended at 
applications of the same kind from other persons, as from 
Whitlocke, thongli that gentleman thought he lost his con- 
fidence by it ; irom the marquis of Hertford, whom he 
treated very respectfully ; and from Dr. Brownrig, bishop 
of Exeter, to whom he shewed more kindness than to any 
other man of his rank and profession. Asking advice once 
of this prelate, " My advice," said he to him, " must be 
in the words of the Gospel : ' Render to Ca-sar the things 
that are CiEsar's, and unto God the things that are God's ;" 
to which Cromwell made no reply. He shewed a great 
respect for learning and learned men, without affecting to 
be learned hiuiself. His letters, however, are the best 
testimonies of his parts; for they are varied in their style 
in a wonderlul manner, exactly adapted to the purposes 
for which they were written, and the persons to whom they 
were addressed. A great number of them are to be found 
in Thurloe's and Nichols's collections, as well as in Rush- 
worth and W'iiitlocke. His public speeches were long, 
dark, and perplexed j and though mixed with the cant of 
the times, yet have sentiments in tiiem which shew a su- 
periority of understanding. Several of these are in Whit- 
locke's " Memorials." In his conversation he was easy 
and pleasant, and could unbend himself without losing his 
dignit}-. He made an excellent choice in those he em- 
ployed, but trusted none of them farther than was ne- 
cessary. 

It may seem strange, that in drawing together his cha- 
racter, there should be nothing said of his principles as to 
government or religion ; but the real truth js, that neither 
can be discovered with certainty. We know that he hated 
a commonwealth, and the presbyterians ; but what his 
sentiments were in other respects, it is not possible to say. 
When he recollected himself after the follies of his youtli, 
there seems to be no doubt that he had serious impressions 
of religion ; and there seem to i)e very strong proofs that 
he was afterwards tinctured with enthusiasm. It is im- 
possible to suppose him a fanatic in the time of his elcva- 
vation ; it were more reasonable to suppose him gradually 
to have lost all sense of religion, and only to have pre- 



76 C R O M W E L L. 

served the mask of it, for the better carrying on his de« 
signs, and managing the different parties, as we have be- 
fore noticed. It is idle indeed to dispute on the religion 
of a man who rose to greatness by a succession of actions, 
both in conception and execution, radically criminal. 
Clarendon mentions his speaking kindly of bishops, as if 
there was something good in that order, if the dross was 
scoured off ; and seems to think he was in earnest. But 
the whole of his life proves that he was not steady to any 
form of religion, supposing him to have retained any prin- 
ciples at the bottom ; and there seems to be little doubt 
that the true meaning of these flattering words, was, his 
design to return to the old form of government; for what- 
ever he intended, this was his great aim. He did not 
overturn the constitution to leave it in ruins, but to set it 
up again, and himself at the head of it; and though he 
compared his own government at first to that of a high con- 
stable, yet all he laboured at afterwards, was plainly to 
get the chaos new formed, and his own authority sanctified 
by the regal title, and the appearance of a legal parlia- 
ment. 

He had many children, of whom six, Richard, Henry, 
Bridget, Elizabeth, Mary, and Frances, survived to ad- 
vanced age. Richard, his eldest son, was born Oct. 4, 
1626. His father has been censured for keeping him at a 
distance from business, and giving him no employment ; 
but for this perhaps there was not any just ground. He 
married him to a daufjliter and coheir of Richard Major, 
of Hunley, in Hampshire, esq. who brought him a good 
fortune. He suffered him to pursue the bent of his incli- 
nations, and to lead the life of a plain, honest, country 
gentleman ; which for a time was highly suitable to his 
own interest, as it seemed to correspond with the terms of 
the Instrument of Government ; and with the dislike which 
the protector, when first so called, liad expressed of he- 
reditary right. When he had afterwards brought about a 
change in affairs, he altered his conduct towards Jiis son ; 
named him the first lord in his other house ; resigned to 
him the chancellorship of Oxford ; and conferred upon him 
all the honours he could. His weak and harmless reign is 
well known. On his dismission from the protectorate, he 
resided some time at Pezenas, in Langucdoc, and after- 
wards went to Geneva. Sometime in 1G80, he returned 
to England, and for some time took the name of Richard 



CROMWELL. 77 

Clark, and resided at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, where 
he died July 13, 1712. In 1705 he lost his only son, and 
became in right of him possessed of the manor of Horsley, 
which had belonjied to his mother. Richard, then in an 
advanced age, sent one of his daughters to take possession 
of the estate for him. She kept it for herself and her 
sisters, allowing her father only a small annuity out of it, 
till she was dispossessed of it by a sentence of one of the 
courts of VV'estminster-hall. It was I'equisite for this pur- 
pose, that Richard should appear in person ; and tradition 
says, that the judge who presided, lord Cowper, ordered 
a chair for him in court, and desired him to keep on his 
hat : this last circumstance appears wholly incredible. As 
Richard was returning from this trial, curiosity led him to 
see the house of peers, when, being asked by a person to 
whom he was a stranger, if he had ever seen any thing like 
it before, he replied, pointing to the throne, " Never since 
I sat in that chair." 

Oliver's second son, Henry, born Jan, 20, 1627, he 
sent over into Ireland, where he raised him gradually to 
the post of lord lieutenant. Though in tbis he seemed to 
give him the preference to Richard, yet in reality he used 
him more harshly ; for though his abilities were good, his 
manners irreproachable, and his submission exemplary, 
yet he paid no great deference to his recommendations, 
and allowed him as little pouer as could well be imagined. 
This son died March 25, IG74, having married a daughter 
of sir Francis Russel, of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire. 
He was buried in the church of Wicken, in the same county, 
in which Spinney-abbey, his mansion-house, stood, and 
has tbis simple epitaph in the chancel : " Henricus Crom- 
well de Spinney obiit 23 die Martii, anno Christi 1673, 
annoque a:tatis 47." His lady died April 7, 1687, aged 52, 
and was buried by him. Cromwell married all his daughters 
well, and was kind to their husbands ; but it is said that he 
gave them no fortunes, Bridget, his eldest, first married 
commissary-general Ireton, and after his decease, lieutenant- 
general Fleetwood. Cromwell is said never to have had 
but one confidant, and that was Ireton, whom he placed 
at the head of affairs in Ireland, where he died of the 
plague in 1651, This daughter was a republican, as were 
her two husbands, and consequently not quite agreeable 
to her father ; otherwise a woman of very good sense, and 
regular in her behaviour. By Ireton she had one daughter 



78 CROMWELL. 

of her own name, married to Mr. Bendish. Elizabeth, 
his second and favouiite daugliter, uas born in 1630, and 
married John Claypole, esq. a Northamptonshire gentle- 
man, whom the protector made master of the horse, 
created a baronet in 1657, and appointed him one of his 
lords. Mary, his third daughter, born in 1636, was mar- 
ried with great solemnity to lord Fauconberg, Nov. 18, 
1657 ; but the same day more privately by Dr. Hewett, ac- 
cording to the office in the common prayer-book. She 
was a lady of great beauty, and of a very high spirit ; and, 
after her brother Richard was deposed, is thought to have 
promoted very successfully the restoration of king Charles; 
for it is remarkable, that all Cromwell's daughters, except 
the eldest, had a secret kindness for the royal family, of 
which, however, he was not ignorant. Lord Fauconberg 
was sent to the Tower by the committee of safety, and 
was in very high favour with Charles IL He was raised 
to the dignity of an earl by king William, and died Dec. 
3 1, 1700. His lady survived him to March, 1712, and 
distinguished herself to her death, by the quickness of her 
wit and the solidity of her judgment. Frances, the pro- 
tector's youngest daughter, was married first to Mr. Ro- 
bert Rich, grandson to the earl of Warwick, in 1657, who 
died Feb. Ibth following; and, secondly, to sir John 
Russel, of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire, by whom she 
had several children, and lived to a great age.' 

CRONSTEDT (Axel Fuederic), a Swedi.sh mine- 
ralogist, and one of the first who improved that science 
by applying chemistr}' in the decomposition of mineral 
substances, was born in Sudermania in 1722, and educated 
at the university of Upsal, where he joined to his other 
studies, an uncommon predilection for natural history, and 
especially mineralogy, which was the cause of his being 
much employed in tlie royal college of mines, and being 
frequentl}? sent to inspect those of Sweden and Norway. 
In 1753 he was elected a member of the academy of Stock- 
holm, and contributed several papers on mineralogical 
subjects, particularly on nickel, which, by some expe- 
riments made in 1751 and 1754, he showed to contain a 
new semi-metal, or at least that a rei{ulus different from all 

' Biog. Frit. — History ai England. — A miuute account of Cromwell's Bio- 
graphers may be seen in Mr. Nobit^'s Memoirs, vol. I. p. '■2\)X ; atul much iiifor- 
matioii of every kind in tliese voiviines. 



C R O N S T E D T. -y 

others was obtainable from its ore. Cronstedt died Auji. 
19, 1765. His principal work, which is well known in this 
country by translations, was " An Essay towards a System 
of Mineralogy," originally published in 1758, translated 
from the Swedish by Engestrom, and from that into Eng- 
lish by Emanuel da Costa, 1770, 8vo. Of tiiis a second 
edition, greatly improved by the addition of the modern 
discoveries, and by a new arrangement of the articles, was 
published at London in 1788, by John Hyacinth de Ma- 
gellan, 2 vols. 8vo. ' 

CROOKE. SeeCROKE. 

CROONE. See CROUNE. 

CROSS, or DE LA CRUX (Michael), an English 
artist, and famous copier of paintings, flourished in the 
reigns of Charles L and Charles H. Being employed by 
the first of these kings to copy several eminent pieces 
in Italy, and having leave of the state of Venice to copy 
the celebrated Madonna of Raphael in St. Mark's church, 
he performed the task so admirably well, that he is said 
to have put a trick upon the Italians, by leaving his copy, 
and bringing away the original; and that several messen- 
gers were sent after him, but that he had got the start of 
them so far as to carry it clear off. This picture was after- 
wards, in Oliver Cromwell's days, bought by the Spanish 
ambassador, when the king's collection was exposed to 
sale. Cross copied likewise Titian's Europe, and other 
celebrated pieces, very successfully. He must be distin- 
guished from Lewis Cross, who died 1724, and of whom it is 
recorded that he re-painted a little picture of Mary queen of 
Scots, in the possession of the duke of Hamilton, and was 
ordered to make it as handsome as he could. He made 
the face a round one. For many years it was believed 
^n original, and innumerable copies have been made 
from it." 

CROSSE, or CROSS (John), a Franciscan friar and 
popish missionary in England, was chaplain to king 
James II. and followed the abdicated monarch to St. 
Germain's in 1688, where he died a few years after. He 
was esteemed to be a man of parts, and published : 1. " A 
Sertnon before the king and queen at St. James's palace," 
1686. 2. " Cynosura, or the Miserere psalm paraphrased," 
thin folio. 3. " Divine Poems." 4. " Piiilothcus's Pil- 

1 Diet. Hist, 9 Pilkinglon.— Walpole's Painters. 



80 C R O U N E. 

giimage to perfection, in a practice of ten days solitude,'* 
Bruges, 1668.' 

CROUNE, CROON, or CRONE (William), an emi- 
nent physician and benefactor to the science, was born in 
London, and educated at Emanuel college, Cambridge, 
where he was admitted a pensioner Mny 13, 1647, and 
took the decree of B. A. in 1 650. In 1651 he was elected 
a fellow, and commenced M. A. in 1654, In 1659, being 
now settled as a physician in London, he was chosen rhe- 
toric professor in Gresham college, and at the first meeting 
of the royal society, Nov. 28, 1660, was (Uiough absent) 
appointed their register, whose business was to make mi- 
nutes of what passed at their meetings. In this office he 
remained till the grant of their charter, when Dr. Wilkins 
and Mr. Oldenburg were nominated joint secretaries. On 
Oct. 7, 1662, he was created M. D. at Cambridge, by ro\'al 
mandate ; and in May 1663 was chosen one of the first fel- 
lows of the royal society, and frequently afterwards was 
one of the council. The same year he was admitted a 
candidate of the college of physicians. In 1665 he tra- 
velled into France, and became acquainted with several 
eminent and learned pnen of that nation. In yVugust 1670, 
he was chosen by the company of surgeons their lecturer 
on anatomy, which he held to his deatii ; but this year he 
resigned his Gresham professorship, which could be held 
only by a bachelor, and soon after married Mary, daughter 
of John Lorimer, of London, esq. In 1674 and 1675 he 
read his " Theory of Muscular Motion," in the theatre of 
Surgeons'-hall, an abstract of whicli was afterwards pub- 
lished by Mr. Hooke in his " Philosophical Collections.'" 
In July 1675, he was admitted a fellow of the college of 
physicians, after he had waited for a vacancy upwards of 
twelve years. He was much esteemed as a physician, and 
came into great practice in the latter part of his life, on 
which account the loss of him was much regretted by the 
citizens of London. He died of a fever Oct. 12, 1684, 
and was buried in St. Mildred's church in the Poultry, in 
a vault belonging to the Lorimer family, with an inscrip- 
tion on black nmrble, on the pavement in the chancel. 
His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. John Scott, rector 
of St. Peter-le-Poor, Broad-street, in which he gives him 
a very high character, not only for learning, but those 

1 Dodd's Ch, History, vol. III-^The Cat, Bibl, Bod!, calls Cross, Mckolat. 



C R O U N E. 81 

more amiable attributes of a pbysician, tenderness and 
kindness to tlie poor. He died rich, and besides many- 
benevolent legacies, left his medical books to the college 
ot physicians, and his mathematical collection to Emanuel 
college. His printed \V()rks are in the Philosophical 
Transactions ; and many of his MSS. are in the British 
Museum (see Ayscough's Cat. under the articles Crone, 
Croon, and Croun). He printed separately only one 
tract, " De ratione motus musculorum," Lond. 1664, 4to ; 
Amst. 1667, 12mo, without his name in either edition. He 
left to Emanuel and six other colleges at Cambridge, a sum 
of money to found algebra lectures, which took place in 
1710. This le<i[acv, althoufrh a continofent on the death of 
his wife, was liberally settled by her in her life-time. He 
also left a j)lan of an annual lecture on muscular motion 
before the royal society, which was also carried into exe- 
cution by Mrs. Croun. The first lecture was read in 1738, 
by Dr. Alexander Stuart, physician to the queen, and has 
been continued ever since. These lectures, for a consi- 
derable number of years, have been regularly published 
in the Philosophical Transactions, and have been drawn 
up b}' the most eminent physiologists, who were members 
of the societ}-, and contain a great collection of very cu- 
rious and important facts, respecting the muscles and their 
motions. The Crounian lecture is endowed with the pro- 
fits of a house in Old Fish-street.* 

CROUSAZ (John Peter de), an eminent philosopher 
and mathematician, descended from a noble family, was 
born at Lausanne, April 13, 1663. His father was Abra- 
ham de Crousaz, colonel of a regiment of fusileers : in his 
youth being of a very delicate habit, he was not too closely 
confined to his studies, yet left school at the age of thir- 
teen with the reputation of a good scholar. His father, 
who intended him for the army, had him educated in the 
branches of knowledge necessary for that profession ; but 
finding him averse to any pursuit unless that of literature, he 
allowed him to follow his inclination. In his fifteenth year 
he completed his course of philosophy, and distinguished 
himself by his theses, but being dissatisfied with the phi- 
losophy then taught, he had recourse to the writings of 
Des Cartes, which he studied with avidity, and applied at 

1 Ward's Oresham Professors. — Dr. Scott's SvVmon, 4t.o. — ^Thomson's; Hist. 
• f the Royal Sociatv. 

Vol. XI. ' G 



82 C R O U S zV Z, 

the same time to mathematics, but scliolastic theology had 
no more charms for him than the philosophy he had been 
taught. In his sixteenth year, liowever, he entered as a 
student of divinity, attended the l)est professors, both at 
Geneva and Lausanne, and read the opinions of other 
eminent divines on the subjects most involved in contro- 
versy. In March 1682 he went to Leyden, made himself 
acquainted with the theological disputes, and endeavoured 
to investigate how far they could be deteru)ined by the 
sacred scriptures. Leaving Holland, he entered France, 
became acquainted with those celebrated protestant di- 
vines Claude and Menard, at Charenton, and fathers 
Malebranche and le Vassor at Paris, who in vain endea- 
voured to bring him over to the Roman catholic churcli, 
which Vassor himself forsook some years after. On his 
return to liis native country, in J 684, Crousaz married the 
daughter of John Lewis Loys, comptroller-general, and 
soon after was ordained, and made honorary professor. 
He officiated as pastor in the church of Lausanne f r four- 
teen years. During this time, in 1691, he was appointed 
to dispute for the professorship of Hebrew at Berne, which 
he performed with great credit, h) 1699 he was made 
professor of Greek and philosophy, and although also no- 
minated to the chair of divinity in 1700, he preferred that 
of philosophy. In 1706 he was appointed rector of the 
college, which office he held three years, ai*d was again 
appointed in 1722, but held it then only two years, as it 
interfered too much with his literary engagements. It was 
during: this second rectorate, that contests arose at Lau- 
sanne respecting the obligation of signing the Consensus, 
a formulary ot" faith and doctrine maintained in the pro- 
testant cliurches of Swisserland, an account of which may 
be seen in " Memoires pour servir a I'histoire des troubles 
arrives en Suisse a Toccasion du Consensus," Amst. 1726; 
and more brietty in Mosheim's History. In 1705, from hi& 
own theses, and those published at the expence of the 
lords of Berne, he compiled a system of logic, in twenty- 
two theses, 4to, and in the same and two following years 
published an abridgment of this. In 1712 he publisiied in 
French, a system of logic, entitled " Systeme de re-^ 
flexions qui peuvent contribuer a la nettcte et a Tetude de 
nos connoissances," Amst 2 vols. Svo, reprinted there in 
1720, 3 vols. 12mo ; in 1725, in 4 vols. ; and in 1741, in 
6 vols. In 1724 he published an abridgment of it in Latin, 



c R o u s A z. as 

at Geneva, " Systema Logicae, juxta principia ab autore 
ill Gallico opere posita." Some conversations on the sub- 
ject of beauty in art, led him to an investigation of the 
subject, and produced in 1715, his " Trait6 du Beau, ou 
I'on montre en quoi consiste ce que i'on nomnie ainsi, par 
ties examples tires de la plupart des arts et des sciences,'* 
reprinted at Amst. 2 vols. 12mo. In 1718, he published 
an ironical work, " Nouvelles maximes sur l' Education des 
enfans," Amst. 8vo ; but in 1722, his more serious and 
better known work on Education, Hague, 1722, 2 vols. 
12mo. In 1718 he answered the deistical Collins's dis- 
course of Freethinking, in " Examen du traite de la libert6 
de penser," Amst. 8vo. In the same year he published 
his first mathematical work, " Geometric des lignes et des 
surfaces rectiliones et circulaires," Amst, 2 vols. 8vo. 

h^ 1724 he was invited to the professorship of mathe- 
matics and philosophy at Grohingen, with a salary of 
1500 Dutch florins; and when the lords of Berne granted 
him permission to accept this office, they also allowed his 
son to fill the chair at Lausanne for a year ; during which 
he might see whether the air ofGrouingen agreed with 
him. He departed accordingly, and in October took pos- 
session of his new professorship with a discourse " De lo- 
gical cum physica, et dc mathesKos cum utraque, et utri- 
usque cum mathesi reciproco nexu," which was afterwards 
printed. In 1726 he was chosen a foreign associate of the 
royal academy of sciences at Paris, and the same year was 
selected as tutor to prince Frederick of Hesse Cassel, which 
occasioned him to remove to Cassel ; and he superintended 
the education of his illustrious pupil until 1732, in which 
year the king of Sweden made him counsellor of his em- 
bassies. In September of the same year he went to Ge- 
neva with his pupil, and after a year's residence there re- 
turned to Lausanne. The king of Sweden sent him a very 
polite letter of acknowledgement for the services he 
had rendered the prince, who was the king's nephew, 
and prince William of Hesse-Cassel, father to prince Fre- 
derick, continued to Crousaz his pension of 884 crowns as 
lonsr as he lived. In 1735 Crousaz was chosen a member 
of the royal academy of sciences at Bourdeaux ; and in 
1737 he was unanimously elected to the vacant professor- 
ship of philosophy at Lausanne; and the lords of Berne 
permitted him to employ a deputy when he found age and 
infirmities creep on, and continued to him his title of pro- 

G 2 



84 C R O U S A Z. 

« fessor and his salary, even when he was obliged to declirre 
ail its duties. As late as 1740, however, we find that he 
continued to enjoy health and activity, but died in Way 
1750, deeply regretted as one of the ablest men of his 
time, a man of great piety, and an acute and successlul 
opponent of infidelity in every shape. 

Besides the works already mentioned, he published, 1. 
.*' Cinq Sermons sur la verite de la religion Chretienne," 
with a sixth on the plague at Marseilles, 1722, 8vo. 2. 
" Nouveau volume des Sermons," 1723, 8vo. 3. " Sum- 
nia Logical," Groningen, 1724. 4. " Compendium Logicie," 
Groningen, 1725. 5. " De physicne utilitate." 6, '* Ten- 
tamen novum metaphysicuni." 7. " Reflexions sur I'usage 
et sur Tabus du jeu." 8. " Sermon sur la gloire de ceux 
qui connoissent I'evangile, et qui s'y soumettent." 9. 
*' Essai de rhetorique contenu dans la traduction de quatre 
harangues de Tite-Liv£.'* 10. " Essai sur le mouvement." 
These last six articles were printed at Groningen in 1725. 
11. "Reflexions sur rutiiitc des mathematiques," Amst. 
1725. 12. " De mente humana, &c. dissert, phiiosophico- 
theologica," Groningen, 1726, 12mo. 13. « Traite d'Al- 
gebra," Paris, 1726. 14. " Examen du Pyrronisme ait- 
cienne et moderne," Hague, 1734, fol. an able confutatioti 
of Bayle and other free-tliinkers. 15. " Systeme de Lo- 
gique abrege," with a preface on tiie use and abuse of 
abridgments, Lausanne, 1735. 16. " Oeuvres diverses,'' 
.1737, 2 vols. 17. " Horatii logica," Lausanne, 1739. IH. 
*'Traitede I'esprit huiwain, &c." Basil 1741, against Leib- 
nitz and \'/olfl'. 19. " Reflexions sur la belie Wolfienne," 
1743, on the same subject. 20. Various prize dissertations 
which received that honour in tlie academy of Bourdeaux. 
21. " Dissertation sur le principe du mouvenient," to whicli 
the academy of Paris adjudged the prize in 1720, printed 
at Paris, 1722, 4to. 22. " Commentaire sur Tunalyse des 
inlinimens petits." 

Two of M. de Crousaz's publications yet remain, and 
require particular notice: his "Examen de I'lLssai sur 
I'homme, poeme de M. Pope," Lausanne, 1737; aud 
" Commentaire sur la traduction en vers de M. Tabbe ilu 
Resnel, de Tessai de M. Pope," Geneva, 1738, 12mo. In 
these M. Crousaz accuses Mr. Pope of Spinosism and na^ 
turalism, and the first of them was immediately translated 
into English by the celebrated Miss Carter, with some as- 
sistance from Dr. Johnson, and published under the title of 



C R O U S A Z. 85 



« 



An Examination of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man ; contain- 
ing a succinct view of the system of the fatalists, and a con- 
futation of their opinions ; with an ilkistr;\tion of the doc- 
trine of free-will, and an inquiry what view Mr. Pope might 
have in touching upon the Leibnitzian philosophy and fa- 
talism," 1738, Svo. The other was translated under the 
title of " A Commentary on Mr. Pope's Principles of Mo- 
rality, or Essay on Man. By M. Crousaz ; with the abbe 
du Resnel's translation of the Essay into French verse, and 
the English interlined : also observations on the French, 
Italian, and English Poetry," 1741, Svo. Pope, who had 
got the principles of the Essay from Bolingbroke, and did 
not understand them, would have made but a sorry figure 
in this controversy had he not found in Warburton a vi- 
gorous defender, although it is said that he had once writ- 
ten a censure of the doctrines of the Essay on Man. He 
now stept forth, however, with a defence, which was first 
published in a monthly literary journal (The Republic of 
Letters), but was .afterwards collected into a volume (1742, 
12mo), written with more asperity than argument. " Crou- 
saz," says Dr. Johnson, " was no mean antagonist; his 
mind was one of those in which philosophy and piety are 
happily united. He was accustomed to argument and dis- 
quisition, and, perliaps, was growti too desirous of detect- 
ing faults ; but his intentions were always right, his opi- 
nions were solid, and his religion pure. His incessant vi- 
gilance for the promotion of piety disposed him to look 
with distrust upon all metaphysical systems of theology, 
and all schemes of virtue and happiness purely rational ; 
and therefore it was not long before he vvaj persuaded thac 
the positions of Pope, as they terminated for the most part 
in natural religion, were intended to draw mankind away 
from revelation, and to represent the whole course of things 
as a necessary concatenation of indissoluble fatality; and 
it is undeniable, that in many passages a religious eye may 
easily discover expressions no't very favourable to morals 
or to liberty." The consequence to Pope was, that his 
eyes were opened, and he was not a little pleased that by 
" any mode of interpretation he could be made to meaa 
well." To Warburton the consequences were more im- 
portant ; Pope courted him, and ultimately got him a ricU 
wife and a bishopric' 

' Moreri. — Johnson's Lives. — iJichols'i Bowyer f^r a full account of the coo- 
trovtrsy wiih Crousaz. 



86 CROWLEY. 

CROWLEY (Robert), a divine and poet, was born 
either in Gloucestershire, or, according to Bale, in North- 
amptonshire, and entered a student ot" Magdalen college, 
Oxford, about the year 1534 ; and alter taking the degree 
of B. A. vvas elected probationer fellow in 1542. In the 
beginning of the reign of Edward VL he settled in London, 
took a house in Ely-rents, Holborn, and there exercised 
the trade of printer and bookseller, and being, we suppose, 
in orders, occasionally preached ; but being at the same 
time a zealous friend to the reformation, on the accession 
of queen Mary he went with the other exiles to Franc- 
fort, where he remained until the queen's death. After 
his return to England he had several benefices bestowed 
on him, among which were the archdeaconry, and a 
prebend in Hereford, both which he resigned in 1567; a 
prebend of St. Paul's, the rectory of St. Peter le Poor, and 
the vicarage of St. Giles's Cripplegate ; but he was de- 
prived of the latter, the only promotion which he appears 
to have held at that time (1566), for a riot in the church, 
because the choristers wore surplices. In 1576, however, 
it appears that he vvas collated to the living of St. Lawrence 
Jewry, and probably was now more reconciled to the cere- 
monies and habits of the church. In 1578 he was pre- 
sented with the freedom of the Stationers' company, and 
soon after is found with the wardens, licensing copies. 
He died June 18, 1588, and was buried in his former 
church of St. Giles's. He vvas, according to Tanner, a 
person of a happy genius, an eminent preacher, and a 
zealous advocate for reformation. His works, both in prose 
and verse, enumerated by Wood and Tanner, are now 
merely objects of curiosity. In 1550 he printed the first 
edition of " Pierce Plowman's Vision," with the view of 
helping forward the reformation by the revival of a book 
which exposed the absurdities of popery. He translated into 
popular rhyme, not only the Psalter, but the Litany, with 
hymns, all which he printed together in 1549. In the 
same year, and in the same measure, he published " The 
Voice of the Last Trumpet blown by the seventh angel," 
a piece containing twelve several lessons for the instruction 
of all classes. He also attacked the abuses of his aG:e in 
thirty-one " Epigrams," 1550, and twice reprinted. In the 
same year he published a kind of metrical sermon on 
** Pleasure and Pain, Heaven and Hell — Remember these 
four, and all shall be well." In his *' Dialogue between 



CROWLEY. 87 

Lent and Liberty," written to prove that Lent is a super- 
stitious institution, Mr. Warton thinks that the personifi- 
cation of Lent is a bold and a perfectly new prosopopeia. 
Crowley likewise wrote and printed in J 588, a rhyming 
manual, " The School of Virtue and Book of Good Na- 
ture," a translation, into metre, of many of the less excep- 
tionable Latin hymns anciently used by the- catholics. 
Among his prose works are " An Apology of those Kingiish 
preachers and writers which Cerberus, the three-headed 
doe of hell, chartreth with false doctrine under the name 
of Predestination," 1566, 4to, and '' Brief Discourse con- 
cerning those four usual notes whereby Christ's Catholic 
Church is known," 1581, 4to, &c. In controversy he 
was usually warm, and not nice in his language ; and in his 
poetry he consulted usefulness rather than taste. ' 

CROWNE (Joiix), an American, was the son of an 
independent minister in Nova Scotia*. Being a man of 
some genius, and impatient of the strict education he re- 
ceived in that country, he resolved upon coming to Eng- 
land to try if he coidd not make his fortune by his wits. 
When he first arrived here, his necessities were extremely 
uro-ent: and he was oblisfcd to become gentleman usher to 
an old independent lady ; but he soon grew as weary of 
that office as he was of the discipline of Nova Scotia. He 
set himself therefore to writing ; and presently made him- 
self so known to the court and the town, that he was no- 
minated by Charles II. to write " The Masque of Calisto.'* 
This nomination was procured him by the earl of Roches- 
ter, who designed by that preference to mortify Dryden. 
Upon the breaking out of the two parties, after the pre- 
tended discovery of the popish plot, the favour Crowme 
was in at court induced him to embrace the tory party; 
about' whicii time he wrote a com.edy called the " City 
Politics," in order to expose the whigs. The lord cham- 
berlain, Bonnet earl of Arlington, though secretly a pa- 
pist, was unaccountably a friend to the whigs, from his 

* Oldys give*: a rlifferent account, and wha, after holding: an office in the 
and repifseiits liim as !he son of Wil- H<ralds' college, went with his family 
liam CiMwn, who travelled with the to one of the plantations, wiure he 
earl of Arundel to Vienna, and pub- died. Perhaps when he went there he 
lished " A Relation of the remarkable took ou hitu the functions of a clergy- 
places and pa^"sages observed in his man, 
lordship's travels, &,c." 1637, 4to; 

' Ath. Ox. vol. I. — Tanner and Bale. — Strype's Life of Parker, p. 21S.— • 
Warton b Mist, of Poetry. 



88 , C R O W N E. 

hatred to the treasurer lord Darnley. Upon various pre- 
tences the play was withheld from the stage ; at lust 
Crowne had recourse to the king himself, and by his ma- 
jesty's absolute command the play was acted. Though 
Crowne ever retained a most sincere affection lo his royal 
master, he was honest enongh to despise the servilities of 
a court. He solicited the payment of money promised 
him, which as soon as he obtained he became remiss in his 
attendance at St. James's. The duchess of Portsmouth 
observed this conduct, and acquainted the king with it. 
The gay monarch only laughed at the accusation, and per- 
haps in his mind jnstitied Crowne's sincerity. 

About the latter end of this reign, Crowne, tired out 
with vvrltino:, and desirous of shelterinir himself from the 
resentment of many enemies he had made by his " City 
Politics," ventured to address the king himself, for an 
establishment in some olHce, that might be a security to 
him for life. The king answered, " he should be provided 
for ;" but added, *' that he Vvould first see another comedy.'* 
Crowne endeavoured to excuse himself by telling the king, 
that " he plotted slowly and awkwardly." His majesty 
replied, that "he would help him to a plot;" and put into 
his hand the Spanish comedy called " Non pued esser," 
out of which Crowne took the comedy of " Sir Courtly 
Nice." The play was just ready to appear, and Crowne 
extremely delighted to think that he was going to be made 
happy the remaining part of his life, by the performance 
of the king's promise ; when, upon the last day of the re- 
hearsal, he met Underbill the player coming from the 
house, who informed him of the king's death. This event 
ruined Crowne ; who had now nothing but his wits to live 
on for the remaining part of his life. On them, however, 
he contrived to live at least until 1703, but it is not cer- 
tain when he died. He was the author of seventeen plays, 
some of which were acted with great success ; of a romance 
called " Pandion and Amphigeria ;" and a burlesque poem 
called " Dccneids," 1692, 4to, partly imitated from Boi- 
ieau's " Lutrin," which last he translated in Dryden's 
JNliscellany. The editor of the Biographia Dramatica as- 
signs him the third rank in dramatic merit, which seems 
rather more than his plays will justify. His merit, such 
as it was, lay in comedy, for his tragedies are wretched. 
IJryden, who, notwithstanding his high fame, was not 
wholly free from the jealousy of rivals, and even of such a 



C R O W M E. 89 

rival as Crowne, used to compliment him when any of his 
jjhiys failed, but was cold to him if he met with success. 
IJc used also to say that Crowne had some genius, but 
tlieu lie always added, that " his father and Crowne's mo- 
ther were very well acquainted." For this bit of gossip, 
related first by Jacob Tonson, we are indebted to Spence's 
Anecdotes. Drydeii was evidently in good hutnour when 
he thus endeavoured to account for Crowne's genius. ' 

CROXALL (Dr S.-muel), was the son of Samuel Crox- 
all, rector of Hanworth in Middlesex, and Walton upon 
Thames in Surrey, in the last of which places his son was 
born. He received his early education at Eton school, and 
thence was sent to St. John's coUefr^", in Cambridge. It is 
said, that while he was at the university he became ena- 
moured of Mrs. Anna Maria Mordaunt, who first inspired 
his breast with love ; and to whom he dedicates " The 
Fair Circassian," in a bombastic style, bordering on pro- 
phaneness. Croxall was designed for orders, and had 
})robably entered them when he published this poem, 
which made him cautious of being known to be the author 
of a piece so ludicrously written, and yet taken from a 
book which makes a part of the canon of scripture. The 
first specimen of this poem, under the title of " Solomon's 
Song, chap, iv." appeared in Steele's Miscellany, 1713. 
The first edition of tlie whole poem appeared in 1720, vvhea 
it might have been expected he had acquired more re- 
verence for the scriptures, or respect for his profession. 

Croxall had not long quitted the university before he was 
instituted to the vicarage of Hampton, in Middlesex ; and 
afterwards, Feb. 1731, to the united parishes of St. Mary 
Somerset and St. Mary Mounthaw, in London, both which 
he held till his death. He was also chancellor, prebendary, 
canon residentiary, and portionist of the church of Here- 
ford; in 1732 was made archdeacon of Salop and chaplain 
to the king; and in Feb. 1734 obtained the vicarage of 
Selleck in Herefordshire. He died at an advanced age, 
Feb. 13, 1752. Dr. Croxall, who principally governed the 
church of Hereford during the old age of bishop Egerton, 
pulled down the old stone chapel adjoining to the palace, 
of which a fine plate was published by the society of anti- 

> Cibl)ei-'s Liveis, vol. HI. — Maloiv's Dryden, vol. I. p. 123, 500, 501.—. 
BiOfi;. Oititn. — Cfnsura Lileraria, vul. !. — Speiici 'i Auerdoles, MS. — Gent. Maf . 
vol. XV p. 99. — Doiiiiis's Loiters, vol. 1. p. 48, I7'21. His Do^neid, or the 
Churclt St.uiiJc, is iu Mr. NJcholi's Cullcctiya of I'oems, vol. III. 



^0 C n O X A L L. 

quaries in 1737, and with the j^atcrials built a house for 
his hrotlier, JMr. llodney Croxali. Having early imbibed 
a strong attachnsent to tlit; whig interest, he emphjyed his 
pen in favour of that parry during the latter end of qneeo 
Anne's reign ; and published " 1\vo original cantos, in 
in)itation of Spenser's Fairy Queen," as a satire on the 
carl of Oxford's adminisiration. In 1715 he addressed a 
poem to the duke of Argyle, upon his obtaining a victory 
over the rebels ; and the same year published " The Vi- 
sion," a poem, addressed to the earl of Halifax. In 1720 
he published "The Fair Circassian," in 4to ; in 1722, a 
collection of *'■ Fables of j^sop and others, translated into 
English," a work wtiich continues to be popular, probably 
from its homely and almost vidg;ir style. He wrote all the 
dedications prefixed to the " Select Novels," printed for 
Watts, 1729 ; and was the author of " Scripture Politics," 
1735, 8vo. This is an account intended for common rea- 
ders of the historical part of the Old Testament. His 
latest publication was " The Royal Manual ;" in the pre- 
face of which he endeavours to shew that it was composed 
by the famous Andrew Marvel, found among his MSS. but 
it was generally believed to be written by himself. 

As a divine. Dr. Croxali seems entitled to little respect. 
He owed his preferments to his political services. He 
published, however, six single sermons, and while house 
chaplain to the palace at Hampton court, preached a ser- 
mon on a public occasion, in which, under the character 
of a corrupt and vvicked minister of state, he was supposed 
to mean sir Robert Walpole, who had intercepted some 
ecclesiastical dignity which he wished to obtain. It was 
expected that for this offence he would have been removed 
from his chaplainship : but the court over-ruled it, as he 
had always manifested himself to be a zealous friend to the 
Hanover succession. To the list of his poems may be 
added, an " Ode." inscribed to king George the First, on 
liis landing to receive the crown ; and " Colin's Mistakes," 
formerly ascribed to Prior, but printed as Croxall's in Mr. 
>3ichols's Collection. His having written the dedications 
to the " Select Novell," printed for Watts in 1729, sug- 
gested to some bookseller to afBx his name to a compila- 
tion called '< The Tea-table Miscellany," 1766.' 

CHOZE (Matiiuuin Veyssiere la), a learned French 
writer, was born at Nantes, Dec. 4, 1661. His father, 

» Biog. Brit. — Cibber's Live6, vol. V. — Nichols's Poems, vol. VII. 



CROZE. 91 

who was a merchant, was also a man of letters, and be- 
stowed much pains on tlie education of his son, who an- 
swered his expectations by the proficiency he made in 
cla."«sical studies. He had, however, provided him with a 
private tutor, who happened to disgust him by the severity 
of his manners, and upon this account partly, at the age 
of fourteen, he desired to take a voyage to some of the 
West India islands, to which his father traded ; but his 
princij)al inducement was what he had read in books of 
voyaf^es, and the conversation of persons who had been in 
America, all which raised his curiosity to visit the new 
world. He embarked on board a French ship, with no 
other books than Erasmus's Colloquies, and the Gradus ad 
Parnassum. His passage was not unpleasant, and during 
his residence at Guadaloupe he borrowed all the Latin 
books he could discover, and read them with avidity ; but 
the chief advantage he seems to have derived here was an 
opportunity to learn the English, Spanish, Itahan, and 
Portuo-uese lan<iua2:es. To these he afterwards added an 
acquaintance with the German, Sclavonic, and Anglo- 
Saxon ; and studied with much attention the ancient and 
modern Greek, the Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, 
Hebrew, Arabic, and even the Chinese, On his return to 
Nantes in 1677, he found his father's affairs somewhat de- 
ranged, and was obliged to take a part in the business. , 
Medicine appears to have been first suggested to him as a 
profession, but he found little inclination for that study ; 
and some conferences he happened to have with the Be- 
nedictines of the conorefration of St. Manr determined him 
to enter their society. He accordingly made his noviciate 
in 1678, and applied himself to the study of theology. In 
1682 he formally became a member of the congregation. 
His residence at Paris, in the abbey of St. Germain des 
Pres, the vast number of books within his reach, and par- 
ticularly of n)anuscripts, increased his knowledge and his 
thirst for knowledoe, and some of his earliest labours were 
bestowed in preparing materials, collecting MSS. &c. for 
new editions of the works of St. Clement of Alexandria, 
and St. Gregory Na^-ianzen. But these were interrupted 
by certain differences which occurred in the abbey to 
which he belonged, and of which we have various ac- 
counts. The prior of St. Germain, father Loo, had a 
great aversion to the study of classical and polite literature, 
and was for confining the members to the strict religious 



9J CROZE. 

duties of the; bouse. This could not fail to be disfjust- 
ing to a man of La Croze's taste : but, liccording to 
other accounts, whicii seem more probable, he began 
to entertain religious scruples about this time (16.96), which 
induced him to uithdiaw himself. It is said that his 
superiors found among his pape-s a treatise against tran- 
substantiation in his hand-vvritintj, and which thev believed 
to be his composition ; but they discovered afterwards that 
it was a translation from the English of htillingfieet. Some 
other manuscripts, however, sufficiently proved that he 
had changed his opinion on religious matters ; and the 
dread of persecution obliged him to make his escape to 
Basil, which he successfully accomplished in May 1696. 
Here he renounced tlie Roman catliolic religion, and as 
his intention was to take up his residence, he was matri- 
culated as a student of the colleije of Basil. He remained 
in this place, however, only till Septem.ber, when he de- 
parted, provided with the most honourable testimonies of 
his learning and character from Buxtorf, the Hebrew pro- 
fessor, and VVerenfels, dean of the faculty of theology. 
He then went to Berlin, where his object was to secure a 
fixed residence, devote himself to study, and endeavour to 
forget France. In order to introduce himself, jje began 
with offering to educate young men, the sons of protestant 
parents, which appears to have answered his purpose, as 
in 1697 we find him appointed librarian to the king of 
Prussia ; but his biographers are not agreed upon the 
terms. To this place a pension was attached, but not suf- 
ficient to enable him to live without continuing his school ; 
and some assert that he was very poor at this lime. The 
probability is, that his circumstances were improved as he 
became better known, and his reputation among the learned 
was already extensive. In June of 1697 he went to Franc- 
fort to visit the literati of tha: place, and their fine library, 
and visited also Brandcnburgh for the same purpose. In 
November 1697 (or, as Chaufepie says, in 1702), he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Rose, a lady originally of Dauphiny, and 
thus, adds one of his Roman catholic biograi)hers, com- 
pleted the abjuration of the true, religion. In 1698 he first 
commenced author, and from time to time published those 
works on which his fame rests. Soon after he became ac- 
quainted with the celebrated Leibnitz, with whom he car- 
ried on an intimate correspondence. In 17 13 he went to 
Hamburgh, where he paid many visits to the learned Fu- 



CROZE. 9$ 

biicius, and in liis letters speaks with great warmth of the 
pleasure tliis journey afforded ; but tliis year, 1713, was 
not in other respects a very fortunate one to La Croze, 
and he formed tiie design of quitting Germany. He had 
been appointed tutor to the margrave of Schwel, and this 
employment terminating in 17 1 4, he lost the pension an- 
nexed to it, and was reduced to considerable difhculties, 
of which he wrote to Leibnitz, as to a friend in whcmi h? 
could confide. Leiljiiitij, by way of answer, sent him a 
copy of a letter which he had written to M. BernsdorfF, 
prime minister to the elector of Hanover, in his behalf. 
The ohjcct likely to be attained hy this interest was a pro- 
fessorsliip at Helmstadt ; but as it required subscripiion to 
the articles of the Lutheran church, i\L la Croze, not- 
withstanding the persuasions Leibnitz employed, declined 
accepting it. His affairs, however, soon after wore a more 
promising aspect, partly in consequence of a prize he 
gained in the Dutch lottery. Li 17 17 he had the honour 
to be engaged as private tutor to the princess royal of 
Prussia, afterwards margravine of Bareuth. In 1724, for 
several months his studies were interrupted by a violent fit 
cl the gravel ; and on his recovery, the queen of Prussia, 
who ahvay:5 patronized La Croze, obtained for him the 
professorship of philosophy in the French college at Berlin, 
vacant by the death of M. Chauvin. This imposed on him 
the necessity of drawing up a course of philosophy, but as 
he never intended to print it, it is said not to have been 
executed with the care he bestowed on his other works. 
In 1 713 father Bernartl Pez, the Benedictine, made him 
liberal offers if he would return to the church he had for- 
saken, but this lie declined with politeness, offering the 
arguments which influenced his mind to remain in the pro- 
testant chui'ch. In 1739 an inflammatioa appearetl on his 
leg, which in April pat on appearances of mortification, 
but did not prove fatal until May 21. About a quarter of 
an hour before his death he desired his servant to read the 
51st and 77th psalms, during which he expired, in the 
seventy -first year of his age. He was reckoned one of 
t[ie most learned men of his time, and was frequently called 
a living li})rary. So exteu'^lve v;as his reading, and so 
vast his memory, that no one ever consulted him without 
obtaining prompt informatir)n. In dates, facts, and re- 
ierences he v/as correct and ready. We have already no- 
ticed how many languages he had learned, but it appears 



34 CROZE. 

that he made the least procuress in the Chinese, to which 
Leibnitz, in his letters, is perpetually urging him. The 
greater part of his life was employed in study, and lie had 
no other pleasures. There was scarcely a book in his li- 
brary which he had not perused, and he wrote MS notes 
on most of them. His conversation could not fail to be 
acceptable to men of literary research, as his memory was 
stored with anecdotes, which he told in a very agreeable 
manner. He was conscientiously attached to the prin- 
ciples of the reformed religion. He had always on his 
table the Hebrew Psalter, the Greek Testament, and Tho- 
mas a Kempis in Latin : the latter he almost had by heart, 
as w^ell as Buchanan's Psalms. His consistent piety and 
charity are noticed by all his biographers. 

It may be necessary to notice that he has been some- 
times confounded, and especially in Germany, with Con- 
rand de la Croze, who lived for some time in Holland, and 
wrote part of the first nine volumes of the " Bibliotheque 
Universelle," and the whole of vol. XL From tliese a 4to 
volume was published in London in 1693, under the title 
of " Memoirs for the ingenious," but the two authors were 
nowise related. 

The principal works of the subject of this memoir are : 
1. " Dissertations historiques sur divers sujets," Rotter- 
dam, 1707, 8vo, called vol. I. but no move vvere published. 
It contains three dissertations, the first on Socinianism and 
JVlahometanism, stating the connexion between them : the 
second, an exauunation of father Hardouin's opinions on 
ancient authors ; and the third, on the ancient and modern 
state of religion in India. 2. " Vindicia) Veterum ^cripto- 
rum, contra Hardouinum," ibid. 1708, 8vo. 3. " Entretiens 
sur divers sujets d'histoire," Cologne (Amsterdam)) 8vo, con- 
taining conversations with a Jew, a dissertation on atheism, 
and an attack on Basnage, which La Croze's biographer, 
Jordan, thinks too severe. The dissertation on atheism was 
translated into English, and published 1712. 4. " Histoire 
du Christianisme des Indes," Hague, 1721, Svo, a work 
which contributed greatly and deservedly to his reputation. 
5. " Histoire du Christianisme d'Ethiope & d'Arn)enie," 
ibid. 1739, Svo, inferior to the former, but containing 
much curious information. Besides many smaller disserta- 
tions and letters in the literary journals, JM. Croze was the 
author of various works left in MS, one of which, " Lexi- 
fcon i^gyptiaco-Latinum," was published by Woide, at 



-CROZE. 95 

Oxford, in 1775, 4to, and professor Ulil published his 
currejipoiulence in 3 vols. 4to, Lei|)sic ; " Thesauri Fpis- 
tohci Liicroziaui, toui. 111. ex bihlioiheca Jurdauiana," 
1742—1746.' 

CRUCIGKR (Caspar), one of the contributors to the 
reformation in Germany, was born at Leipsic, Jan. I, 1504. 
In his youth he was of a retired melanchol}' cast, but 
made great prf)gr«.;s« in chissical learning, and afterwards 
in divinity, which he studied at Witiemberg under Mosel- 
lanus and Richard Croke (See Croke), an! had for liis 
fellow student tl)e learned Camerarius, who says, that al- 
though he appeared to his companions of a dull capacity, 
he laid in a greater stock of learning than any of them. 
In 1524 he went to Magdeburgi), and taught school for 
two years ; and on his return to Witteaiberg he was ap- 
pointed to expound the scriptures, and to preach in the 
church near the castle, and was admitted to his doctor's 
degree. Here he also aj)plied his mind to the study of 
medicine, pharmacy, and botany, and laid out two gar- 
dens with a groat variety of curious and useful plants. 
Having contracted an intimacy with Luther, he joined him in 
his efforts to promote the reformation, and assisted him in 
the translation of the Bi'ole. In 1540, in the disj)ute at 
Worms with Eckius, &c. he was chosen secretary; and 
Glanvil, who represented the emperor in this a-ssembly, 
said of him that he had more learniu'r than all the Ponti- 
ficians, or Romanists. In disputing he aimed at great 
perspicuitv, and disliked ne.v and ani!)iguou3 expressions. 
To his otiier studies he joined a very intimate acquaintance 
with mathematics, was a master of Euclid, and himself in- 
vented or improved various astronomical instruments. In 
1546 he was chosen rector of the college of Wittemberg, 
and sustained almost alone the whole weight of managing 
its concerns, by which, added to his um'emitting studies, 
his health became injured, and his strength so much im- 
paired, that he died of a decline Nov. 16, 1548, in the 
forty- fourth year of his age. During his sickness, he em- 
ployed himself in reading, and exhorting his family and 
friends, who came to see him, to adhere to the principles 
he had professed and taught. He published some com- 
mentaries on the gospel of St. John, the epistle to Timothy, 

• Chatifepie. — Moreri.— Jordar.'i L fe of La Croze, Amst. 1741. — Montnly 
Eeview, to!. LX. p, 1. 



D6 C K U C I G E R. 

and the Psalms in German : " Enarrationcs in duos artirtr- 
los Symboli Niceni;" and " Ovatio de ordine disceiuli." 
Some of these are to be t'oiind amonfr Melanchton's works.* 
CRUClGEll (George), of tiie same family with the 
preceding, was also of the reformed religion, and a man 
of great learning. He was born at Mersburgh Sept. 24, 
1575, and was educated at Nassau, Leipsic, VVittemberg, 
and Heidelberg; and in 1600 was appointed schoolmaster 
at Cassel. In 1G05 he was promoted to the professorship 
of logic at Marpurg, and about three years after received 
bis doctor's degree, and became rector of the college, and 
afterwards dean of the faculty of theology. He died in 
1636. His only, or principal publication, is a very 
learned and curious work, entitled " Harmonia Linguarum 
quatuor Cardinalium, Hebraica^, Latiuae, et Gcrmanicae,'* 
Fraiicfort, 1616, fol. In this work the author endeavours 
to prove that the Hebrew is the y)arent of the Greek, L.atin, 
and German languages, and although he indulges perhaps 
a little too much in etymological conjecture, he is fre- 
quently successful, and always ingenious. All bibliogra- 
phers mark this a book of rare occurrence, but we have 
just seen a copy in the late Dr. Gosset's valuable library, 
so'd for a few shillinsjs. " 

' CRUCIUS (James), or, as he signs in his French letters. 
La Croix, a learned Dutchman, was born at Delft, about 
the end of the sixteenth century, and was first educated 
under the elder Trelcatius at Leyden, and afterwards at 
Franeker, where he studied divinity,, Hebrew, and Greek, 
under Drusius, &c. He also read history, philosophy, 
and poetry, and occasionally amused himself with writing 
Latin poetry. He became pastor at Delft, the only situa- 
tion he appears to have held in the church. When he 
died is not mentioned by Foppen or Moreri ; and the little 
we know of him is gleaned from his curious volume of 
miscellanies and epistolary correspondence, the best edi- 
tion of which was published at Amsterdam, 1661, 12mo, 
under the title of " Jacobi Crucii Mercurius Batavus, sive 
epistolarum opus, monitis theologicis, ethicis, politicis, 
ceconomicis, refertuni, editio aucta et recognita." This 
work is replete with judicious remarks, and literary aiiec- 
dote, and contains many letters from Kivet, Colviusj 

> Melchior Adatn. — Freheri Theatrum, — Fuller's Abel Reilivivus. — Saxii' 
Onomasticon. 

■^ Freheri Theatruiii. — Morhoff I'olyhist. — Clement Bibl. Curieusc. 



C R U C I U S. 97 

Lanoy, Salmasius, Vossius, and other learned contempora- 
ries. The freedom of some of Crucius's observations pro- 
cured it a place in the Index Expurgatorius, Jan. 25, 1G84. 
He published also " Suada Delphica, sive orationes LXIX. 
varii argumenti, ad usum studios^ juventutis," Amst. 1675, 
12ni(), and often reprinted.* 

CRLDKN (Alexander), author of an excellent "Con- 
cordance of the Bible," was born in 1701 at Aberdeen, 
where he received his grammar learning : he afterwards 
studied at Marischal college, with a view of entering the 
church. Unfortunately, before the period arrived when 
he could be admitted to officiate as a public instructor, 
such decided symptoms of insanity ap])eared in his con- 
duct, as rendered continement necessary. This afterwards 
settled in a kind of belief that he was delegated by Hea- 
ven to reform a guilty world ; and his conduct in a thou- 
sand instances demonstrated an ardour and zeal for the 
good of his fellow-creatures, that merited the highest ap- 
plause. Thrice, however, he was shut up in a private 
madhouse, in which, if the nature of his disease did not 
lead him to exaggeration, he was cruelly treated. Once 
indeed he brought his action against a respectable physi- 
cian, and other persons connected with him ; the cause 
was tried, and Cruden was unable to make out a case. 
The verdict was given in favour of the defendants ; and 
his appeal to the public was not of a kind to set aside that 
verdict, although he certainly suffered much more harsh 
treatment than was necessary. On his release from his 
first confinement, which was in his native place, he came 
to London, and engaged in some respectable families as 
private tutor. In the same employment he spent some 
years in the isle of Man ; and in 1732 he opened a shop in 
London, under the Royal Exchange, as bookseller, and 
employed all his vacant time as a corrector of the press. 
In the following year he began to compile his great work, 
viz. " A complete Concordance of the Holy Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testament." We can scarcely conceive 
any literary work that required more patient labour than 
this, and few have been executed with greater accuracy. 
He had nearly executed the whole before he looked for 
public remuneration. The first edition was published in 
1737, and dedicated to queen Caroline, who had led the. 

} Moreri. — Foppen Bibl, Belg^. 

Vol. xr. H 



OS CRUDER 

editor to expect her patronage ; but her majesty unfor- 
tunately died a few days before the work could be got 
ready. The author's affairs were now embarrassed ; Ije 
had none to look to for assistance, and in a fit of despon- 
dence he gave up his trade, and became a prey to melan- 
choly. Shortly after this, he assumed the title of " Alex- 
ander the Corrector," maintained that he was divinely 
commissioned to reform the manners of the age, and re- 
store the due observance of the sabbath, appealing to pro- 
phecy, in which he fancied he saw his own character deli- 
neated. He sought, however, for earthly honours, and 
requested of his majesty the dignity of knighthood, and 
earnestly solicited his fellow-citizens to elect him member 
for the city of London. Both were deaf to his entreiities, 
and he turned from public offices to duties for which he 
was better qualified. He laboured almost incessantly, 
sometimes in works of pure benevolence, and at others as 
corrector of the press, and seldom allowed himself more 
than four or five hours for sleep. In 1770, after paying a 
visit to Aberdeen, he returned to London, and took lodg- 
incrs at Islington, where he died November the first. In 
private life Mr. Cruden was courteous and affable, ready 
to assist all that came within his reach, as well with his 
money as with his advice, and most zealous in serving the 
distressed. One of his boldest efforts of this kind was in 
the case of Richard Potter, a poor ignorant sailor, who was 
condemned at the Old Bailey for uttering a forged sea- 
man's will, and who, in Mr. Cruden's opinion, was so 
justly an object of the royal clemency, that he never 
ceased his applications to the secretary of state until he 
had obtained a pardon. The following year, 1763, he 
published a very interesting account of this affair, under 
the title of " The History of Richard Potter," 8vo. His 
other publications were, " An Account of the History and 
Excellencj' of the Scriptures," prefixed to a " Compen- 
dium of the Holy Bible/' 24mo ; and " A Scripture Dic- 
tionary, or Guide to the Holy Scriptures," Aberdeen, 2 
vols. 8vo ; printed a short time after his death. He also 
compiled that very elaborate Index which belongs to bishop 
Newton's edition of Milton, an undertaking inferior only 
to that of his " Concordance," and which he .undertook at 
the request of auditor Benson. Of his Concordance an 
edition was published in 1<S10, which may be justly pro- 
nounced the most correct that has appeared since the au- 



C R U D E N. 99 

thoi*s time, every word with its references having been 
most carefully t'xaniined by Mr. Deodutiis Bye, formerly a 
respectable printer in St. John's gate, who voluntarily em- 
jiloyed some years in this arduous task, for which he is 
richly entitled to the thanks of the public* 

CRUIK8HANK (William), an eminent surgeon and 
anatomist, was born in 1745 at Edinburgh, where his fa- 
tlier was examiner in the Excise-office, and had him chris- 
tened William Cumberland in compliment to the hero of 
Culloden, but the latter name our anatomist seldom used. 
The earlier part of his life was spent in Scotland, and at 
the age of fourteen he went to the university of Edinburgh, 
with a view of studying divinity. Feeling, however, a 
strong propensity for anatomy and physic, he studied those 
sciences, with great assiduity, for eight years at the uni- 
versity of Glasgow. In 1771 he came to London, and by 
the recommendation of Dr. D. Pitcairn he became librarian 
to the late Dr. Hunter, who had applied to the professors 
of Glasgow for a young man of talents to succeed Mr. 
Hewson ; and this connection was the principal means of 
raising Mr, Cruikshank to that conspicuous situation which he 
afterwards so well merited. During the life of Dr. Hunter, 
Mr. Cruikshank became successively his pupil, anatomical 
assistant, and partner in anatomy ; and on the death of 
that celebrated man, Mr. Cruikshank and Dr. Baillie re- 
ceived an address from a large proportion of Dr. Hunter's 
students, full of affection and esteem ; which induced them 
to continue in Windmill-street the superintendance of that 
anatomical school which has produced so many excellent 
scholars. Mr. Cruikshank, besides supporting with great 
reputation his share in this undertaking, made himself 
known to the world by some excellent publications, which 
have insured to him a high character as a perfect anatomist, 
and a very acute and ingenious physiologist. In 1780 he 
published his principal work, the " Anatomy of the Ab- 
sorbent Vessels in the Human Body," in which he not 
only demonstrated, in the clearest manner, the structure 
and situation of these vessels, but collected, under one 
point of view, and enriched with many valuable observa- 
tions, all that was known concerning this important system 
in the human body. Besides this work, the merit of which 

• Life of Cruden prefixed to his Concordance, edit. 1810, and originally 
Trritten tor the Biog. Brit, by the editor of iliis Dicionavy. 

H 2 



100 C R U I K S H A N K. 

has been fully acknowledged by translations into foreign 
languages, he wrote a paper, which was presented to the 
royal society several years ago, entitled, " Experiments 
on the Nerves of Living Animals," in which is shewn the 
important fact of the regeneration of nerves, after portions 
of them have been cut out ; illustrated by actual experi- 
ments on animals. This paper was read before the society, 
but not then printed, owing, as was said, to the interfere 
ence of the late sir John Pringle, who conceived that it 
controverted some of the opinions of Haller, his intimate 
friend. It appeared, however, in the Society's Transac- 
tions for 1794. In 1779 he made several experiments on 
the subject of " Insensible Perspiration," which were added 
to the first editions of his work on the " Absorbent Ves- 
sels;" and were collected and published in a separate pam- 
phlet in 1795. In 1797, the year in which he was elected 
F. R. S. he published an account of appearances in the 
ovaria of rabbits, in different stages of pregnancy ; but 
his fame rests upon, and is best supported by, his " Anato- 
my of the Absorbents/' which continues to be considered 
as the most correct and valuable work on the subject now 
extant. 

Mr. Cruikshank was not without some share of personal 
as well as intellectual vanity ; but he had a generous and 
sympathetic heart, and literally *' went about doing good." 
He was one of those liberal medical gentlemen who at- 
tended Dr. Johnson in his last illness. Mr. Cruikshank's 
death was occasioned by a disorder, the fatal consequences 
of which had been predicted by one of his pupils about 
sixteen years before that event. He used at certain times 
to complain of an acute pain in the apex of his head, and 
his pupil gave it as his opinion that the pain arose from 
extravasated blood, which was settled upon the se7isorium ; 
and that as no relief could be given without the greatest 
care in point of regimen, it would increase until it was too 
heavy for the tender nerves or organs of the medulla oblon- 
gata to bear; of course, it would occasion a rupture, and 
end in dissolution. When Mr. Cruikshank found him- 
self in most excruciating pain, he sent for this gentleman, 
and every assistance was given ; but the seat of the com- 
plaint, being directly under the pia matei\ could not be 
touched. In this situation he breathed his last, July 27, 
J 800. The pericranium being afterwards opened, a quan- 



C R U I K S H A N K. 101 

tity of extraVasated blood was found upon the sensoriuinf 
some of the tender vessels of which were ruptured. ' 

CRUSIUS (Christian), professor of eloquence at Wit- 
temberg, and an eminent philologer, was born at Wol- 
becli, where his father was a clergyman, in 1715. He was 
first educated at Hall, whence he removed to Leipsic, and 
studied polite literature under Mascovius. His principal 
attachment was to the classics, which he read with the eye 
of a critic and antiquary. While at Leipsic, he contri- 
buted some of his lirst remarks on classical history and an- 
tiquities to the " Acta Eruditorum." In 1738 he left 
Leipsic for Dresden, where he became acquainted with 
Juncker, and by his persuasion went to St. Petersburg, and 
became a member of the academy of history founded by 
Peter the Great, and afterwards succeeded Beyer in the 
same academy. His situation here was for some time 
agreeable, and his fame spread ; but the stipend affixed 
to his place in the academy being irregularly paid, and 
Crusius being little attentive to pecuniary matters, his 
studies became interrupted, and his mind harassed, and 
his object now was to procure some place in Saxony where 
he could pursue his studies in comfort. For this purpose 
he consulted Gesner, who promised him every assistance; 
and in 1751, on the death of Berger, he was elected pro- 
fessor of eloquence at Wittemberg. Here for some time 
he fulfilled the utmost hopes of the friends by whose in- 
terest he had been elected ; but having while at St. Peters- 
burgh contracted habits too social for a man of learning, 
he now indulged them to such a degree as to obstruct his 
usffulness, expose himself to ridicule, and lessen his au- 
thority. He died Feb. 1767, according to Klotz his bio- 
grapher, regretting his past imprudence, and with pious 
resignation. The failings of this accurate critic are much 
to be lamented, as but for them be would have probably 
attained the highest class in philology. His writings are: 
1. " Commentarius de originibus pecuniae a pccore ante 
rummum signatum : accedit ejusdem oratio habita in con- 
ventu Academico, cum auspicaret munus Professoris,'* 
Petrop. 174S, 8vo. 2. " Probabilia critica, in quibus ve- 
teres Graeciet Latini scriptoresemendantur ^ declarantur,'* 
Leipsic, 1753, 8vo, This collection of criticisms and 
emendations on the classics, chiedy contributed to our 

> Gent. Mag. 1800.— Rees's Cyclopaedia. 



102 C R U S I U S. 

author's fame. 3. " OjDuscula ad historiam et humanitatis 
literas spectantia," Altenburgh, 17G7, with a biographical 
preface by Klotz, to wliich we are indebted for this sketch 
of the life of Crusius. Besides these, Crusius contributed 
various dissertations to the German journals, a list of wtiich 
may be seen in Harles.* 

CRU8IUS or KRAUS (Martin), a learned German 
scholar and antiquary, was born at Grebern, in the bi- 
shopric of Bamberg, Sept. 19, 1526, and after some ele- 
mentary instruction from l)is father, a minister of the 
Lutheran church, was sent to Ulm, where he studied 
Greek and Latin under Gregory Leonard, and by his dili- 
gence and progress obtained a pension from the senators 
of Ulm, which enabled him to pursue his studies without 
expense to his father. In 1545 he went to Strasburgh, 
where, after applying for some time to polite literature, 
he learned Hebrew, and went through a course of divinity, 
still liberally maintained by the city of Ulm; and in 1547 
was appointed tutor to a person of rank. Some years after, 
he presided over the school at Memmingen, and raised its 
reputation very considerably. In 1559 he was chosen pro- 
fessor of moral philosophy and Greek at Tubingen ; but 
in 1566 was obliged to leave it on account of the plague, 
and did not return, along with the other professors, until 
1568. At the age of eighty -one, perceiving that he was 
near his end, he assembled the whole university, with the 
rector at its head, and after entertaining them sump- 
tuously, gave them a goblet worth an hundred florins. 
He died Feb. 25, 1607, leaving a library which was valued 
at 2000 florins. Besides the learned languages, he was a 
good French scholar, but was most distinguished for his 
acquaint vnce with the modern Greek, and was the first 
who taught it in Germany. Of his numerous works, the 
following are the most important : 1. " Turco-Grjcciae 
libri octo, utraque lingua edita. Quibus Graecorum status 
sub imperio Turcico, in politia et ecclesia, ceconomia et 
scholis, jam inde ab amissa Constantinopoli, ad hsec usque 
tempora, luculenter describitur," Basil, 1584, folio. 2. 
*' Acta et Scripta Theologorum Wirtembergensium, et 
Patriarchae Constantinopolitani D. Hieremise ; quit utrique 
ab anno 1576 usque ad annum 158 J de Augustana Con- 
fessione inter se miserunt," Gr. & Lat. 1584, fol. 3. " Ger- 

* Hailes de Vitis Philologorum, vol. IV.— Suxii Ouomasticon. 



C R U S I U S. 103 

mano-Grceciae libri sex : in quorum prioribus tribiis, Ora- 
tiones, iu reliquis Carauna, Gr. & Lat. continentur," fol. 
without date, but from the dedication, probably 1585. 
4. " Annales Suevici, sive Chronica rerum gestarum an- 
tiquissimse et inclyta; Suevica; Gentis quibus quicquid fere 
de ea haberi potuit, ex Lat. & Graec. aliarumque lingua- 
rum auctoribus, scriptisque plurimis, non editis, coniprehen- 
ditur, &c." 1595 and 1596, 2 vols. fol. These works, which 
are now rare, are highly esteemed, and throw much light 
on history, and particularly on the history of the modern 
Greeks. One other work of Martin Crusius may be men- 
tioned as a curiosity : " Corona Anni, hoc est, explicatio 
Evangeliorum et Epistolarum qua; difbus dominicis et 
festis in ecclesia proponuntur; e Tubingeusium, et aliorum 
Theologorum concionibus, conscripta," Wittemberg, 1602, 
4 vols. 4to. From 1563 he had been accustomed to write 
in the church the sermons of the preachers of Tubingen, 
which he did first in Latin, but when professor of Greek, 
he thought it his duty to use that language, and with such 
indefatigable perseverance, that, between 1563 and 1601, 
he had made a collection of those discourses, amounting to 
6174, and published some of them in other volumes, and 
would have published more, if he could have found any 
persons who would defray the expence. The work before 
us he had in vain offered to the booksellers at different 
times for seven years, and at length the court of Saxony 
bore the expence of printing. It contains 5 16 sermons in 
Greek and Latin, in double columns. This singular un- 
dertaking had not, as may be supposed, much success ; 
and the t\:\v copies which exist are considered rather as 
objects of curiosity than utility.' 

CTESIAS, an ancient historian, was a nativeof Cnidos, 
who accompanied Cyrus the son of Darius in his expe- 
dition against his brother Artaxerxes ; by whom he was 
taken prisoner about 400 B. C. But curing Artaxerxes 
of a wound he received in the battle, he became a great 
favourite at the court of Persia, where he continued prac- 
tising- physic l"or seventeen years, and was employed in 
several negotiations. He wrote the " History of Persia," 
in 23 books; and a " History of the Indies;" but these 
works are now lost, and all we have remaining of them is 

> Moreri.— Clfox^iit Bibl. Curieuse. — Fabricii Bibl. Grace. — Niceron, vol 
XIV. — SaxJi Onomatl. 



104 C T E S I A S. 

an abridgment compiled by Photius. Although the most 
judicious among the ancients looked upon Ctesias as a fa- 
bulous writer, several of the ancient historians and modern 
Christian writers have adopted in part his chronology of 
the Assyrian kings; but Dr. Vincent, a writer of the first 
authority, after a careful examination of his character and 
vtritings, decides that he must still be classed among the 
fabulous historians. In Gale's Herodotus, Lond. 1679, fol. 
we have " Excerpta e Ctesiae Persicis et Indicis," and 
Henry Stephens published " Ex Ctesia, Agatharcide, et 
Memnone excerpta," 1557.^ 

CTESIBIUS, of Alexandria, a famous mathematician 
about 120 years B. C was, it is reported, the first inventor 
of the pump, which he discovered by accident. On low- 
ering a mirror that was in his father's shop, he observed 
that the weight which helped it in moving upwards and 
downwards, and which was inclosed in a cylinder, made a 
noise, produced by the friction of the air violently forced 
by the weight. He set about examining into the cause of 
this sound, and thought it might be possible to avail him- 
self of it in making an hydraulic organ, in which the air 
and the water should form the sound ; an undertaking 
which he executed with success. Encouraged by this pro- 
duction, Ctesibius thouoht of usinj^c his mechanical skill in 
measuring time. He constructed a clepsydra, or water- 
clock, foi'med with water, and regulated by cogged wheels; 
the water by falling turned these wheels, whicii communi- 
cated their motion to a column on which were marked the 
characters for distinouishino; the months and tbe hours. 
At the same time that the cogged wheels were put in mo- 
tion, they raised a little statue, which with a wand pointed 
to the months and hours marked upon the colunni. He 
was also the author of " Geodesia, or the art of dividing 
and measurino- bodies," which is said to be in the Vatican 
library ; but he must be distinguished from Ctesibins of 
Chalcis, who was a cynic philosopher, of a sportive dispo- 
sition and a cheerful temper, who had the art of being 
agreeable to the great, without submitting to the vile arts 
of flattery, and made them hearken to truth, and gave 
them a taste for virtue, under the name of amusement. - 

CUDVVORTH (Ralph), a learned English divme and 
philosopher, was son of Dr. Ralph Cud worth, and born 

' Vossius,— Fabric, Bibl. Gr.— Vincent's Periplasj vol. I. ' Moreri. 



C U D W O R T ir. 105 

1C17, at Aller, in Somersetshire, of which place his father 
was rector. His mother was of the family of Machell, and 
had heen nurse to prince Henry, eldest son of James I, 
His father dying vvlien he wad oi^ly seven years of age, 
and l)is motlier marrying again, i}is education was super- 
intended by his father-in-law, Dr. Stoiighton, who was 
very attentive to the promising genius of his scholar. In 
1630, he was admitted pensioner of Emanuel college, 
Cambridge ; of which, after taking the degrees of B. A. 
and ]\1. A. he was chosen fellow, and became an eminent 
tutor. Among his pupils, who were numerous, was Mr. 
William Temple, afterwards the celebrated baronet, states- 
man, and writer. About 1641 he was presented to the 
rectory of North Cadbury, in Somersetshire. In 1642 he 
published " A discourse concerning the true notion of the 
Lord's Supper," printed at London, in 4to, with only the 
initial letters of his name. In this he contends that the 
Lord's supper is not a sacrifice, but a feast upon a sacri- 
fice ; and endeavours to demonstrate, that " the Lord's 
supper in the Christian church, in reference to the true 
sacrifice of Christ, is a parallel to the feasts upon sacri- 
fices, both in the Jewish religion and heathenish super- 
stition." Bochart, Spencer, Selden, and other eminent 
writers, quote this discourse with great commendations, 
but his opinions have been controverted by the majority 
of divines. The same year likewise appeared his treatise 
entitled " The Union of Christ and the Church, in a 
shadow, by R, C." printed at London, in 4to, 

In 1644 he took the degree of B. D. upon which occa- 
sion he maintained the two foliowing theses : that, The 
reasons of good and evil are eternal and indispensable; and 
tliat There are incorporeal su'ostances by their own nature 
immortal. From these questions it has been thought that 
he was even at that time examinin<j and revolvingr in his 
mind those important subjects, which he afterwards intro- 
duced in his " Intellectual System," and other works still 
preserved in MS. The same year he was appointed master 
of Clare hall, in Cambridge, in the room of Dr. Paske, 
who had been ejected by tne parliamentary visitors. The 
year after. Dr. Metcalf having resigned the regius profes- 
sorship of Hebrew, Cudworth was unammously nominated 
by the seven electors to succeed him. From this time he 
applied himself chiefly to his academical employments and 
studies, especially to that of the Jewish antiquities. March 



106 C U D W O R T H. 

31, 1647, he preached before the house of commons at 
Westminster, upon a day of public humiliation, a sermon 
upon 1 John ii. 3, 4, for which he had the thanks of that 
house returned him the same day. This sermon was printed 
the same year at Ciuubridge, in 4to, with a dedication to 
the house of conmions ; in which he told them, that the 
scope of it was not to contend for this or that opinion, but 
only to persuade men to the life of Christ, as tb.e pith and 
kernel of all religion ; without which all the several forms 
of religion in the world, though we please ourselves never 
so much with them, are but so many several dreams. 

In 1651 he took the decree of U. D. and in 1654 was 
chosen master of Christ's college, in Cambridge ; in which 
year also he married. He spent the remainder of his life 
in this station, proving highly serviceable to the university, 
and the church of England. Jan. 1657, he was one of the 
persons nominated by a committee of the parliament, to 
be consulted ;.bout the English translation of the Bible. 
The lord commissioner Whitlocke, who had the care of 
this business, nientions him among others ; and says, that 
" this committee often met at his house, and had the most 
learned men in the oriental tongues, to consult with in 
this great business, and divers learned and excellent ob- 
servations of some mistakes in the translation of the Bible 
in English, uhich yet was agreed to be the best of any 
translation in the world." Our author had a great share in 
the friendship and esteem of John Thurloe, esq. secretary 
of state to the protectors Oliver and Richard Cromwell ; 
who frequently corresponded with him, and consulted him 
about such persons in the universit}- as were proper to be 
employed in political and civil affairs. Besides several 
letters of recommendation remaining in MS. there is a 
printed one in Thurloe's " State Papers" in which he re- 
commends to the secretary, for the place of chaplain to 
the English merchants at Lisbon, Mr. Zachary Cradock, 
afterwards provost of Eton college, and famous for his un- 
common learning and abilities as a preacher*.' 

* .Jan. 163P he wrote the following- vitation \vl)icli I ncqtiainted him with, 

letter to secretary Thurloe, upon his I could tlo no lesso than accompany 

design of publishing some Laiiin liis- him with these few lines, to present 

courses in defence of ClM-istianiiy my service to you. I am pt rswaded, 

against .Judaim. you will he well satisfied in his inje- 

'* Sir, — Havinj;' this opportunity of- ntiity, when yon are aciiuainted with 

fored by doctour Sclatcr, who desires to him. Now 1 liavo this opporinnit}', I 

wait u|)on you, upon your kind in- shall use the freedom to acciuaiiit you 



CUDWORTH. 



107 



Upon the restoration of Charles II. he wrote a copy of 
verses, which were pubHshed in " Academiae CantabrU 
gieiisis SflTHPIA, sive ad Carolum II. reducem, &c. gra- 
tulatio;" and in 16G2 he was presented by Sheldon, then 
bishop of London, to the vicarage of Ashwell, in Hertford- 
shire. In 167S he was installed a prebendary of Glou- 
cester ; and in this year it was that he published at London, 
in folio, his celebrated work entitled *' The true Intellec- 
tual System of the Universe ; the first part, wherein all the 
reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted, and its im- 
possibility demonstrated." The imprimatur by Dr. Sa- 
muel Parker, chaplain to archbishop Sheldon, is dated 
May 29, 1671, seven years before the publication of this 
work, owing to the opposition of some people at court, 
who used all their endeavours to destroy its reputation on 



yu'dh another business. I am per- 
swadetl by friends to publish some dis- 
courses, which 1 have prepared in La- 
tine, that will be of a polecnicall na- 
ture, in defcHse of Christianity aij,ainst 
judaisme ; explaining some cheef 
places of scripture controverted be- 
tween the Jews and us, as Daniel's pro- 
phecy of the seventy weeks, never yet 
sufliciently cleared and improved; and 
withall extricating many difliculties of 
chronologic. Which taske 1 the ra- 
ther undertake, not only because it is 
suitable to my Hebrew profession, and 
because I have lighted on some Jewish 
writings upon the argument, as have 
scarcely ever been seen by any Chris- 
tians, which would the better iiiable 
me fully to confute them ; but also 
because I conceive it a worke proper 
and suitable to this present age. How- 
ever, though I should not be able my- 
selfe to be any way instrumental to 
these great transactions of provi")ence, 
not without cause hoped for of raa«y 
amongst the Jews ; yet 1 perswade 
myselfc my pains may not be alto- 
gether unprofitable for the settling and 
establishing of Christians ; or at least 
1 shall give an account of my spending 
such vacant hours, as I could redeeme 
from my preaching and other occa- 
sions, and the perjietual distractions 
of the bursarship, which the statutes of 
this colledge impose upon me. It was 
my purpose to dedicate these fruits of 
my studies to his highnes, to whose noble 
father I was much obliged, if 1 may 
have leave or presume to doe : which 



1 cannot better understand by any 
than yourselfe, if you shall think it 
convenient, when you have an oppor- 
tunity to insinuate any such thing, 
which 1 permiite wholly to your pru- 
dence. I intend, God willing, to be 
in London some time in March ; and 
then I shall waite upon you to receve 
your information. In the mean time, 
craving pardon for this prolixity of 
mine and freedome, I subscribe my- 
self your really devoted friend and 
humble servant, R. Cudworth. 

Jan. '20, lt)53, 
Christ Coll. Cambr." 

The " Discourse concerning Daniel's 
Prophecy of the Seventy W^eeks," 
mentioned in this letter, and still ex- 
tant in MS. is highly commended by 
Dr. Henry More, in the preface to 
his " Explanation of the grand mys- 
tery of Godliness}" where he observes, 
that Dr. Cudworth in that discourse, 
whicli was read in the public schools of 
the university, had undeceived the 
world, which had long been misled by 
the authority of Joseph Scaliger ; and 
that, taking Funccius's epocha, he had 
demonstrated the manifestation of the 
Messiah to have fallen out at the end 
of the 69ih week, and his passion in 
the midst of the last, in the most na- 
tural and proper sense thereof: " which 
demonstration of his," says More, 
" is of as much price and worth in 
theology, as either the circulation of 
the blood in physic, or the motion of 
the earth in natural philosophy." 



108 C U D W O R T H. 

account of certain singulaiities in it, which brought some 
of his opinions under suspicion. He appeared indeed so 
much to affect impartiality, as to incur the imputation of 
betraying the cause ije meant to defend, which certainly 
was far from his intention. Dryden tells us, that " he 
raised such strong objections against the being of a God 
and providence, that many thought he had not answered 
them :" and lord Shaftesbury says that " though the whole 
world were no less satisfied with his capacity and learning, 
than with his sincer ty in the cause of the Deity ; yet was 
he accused of giving the upper hand to the atheists, for 
having only stated their reasons and those of their adver- 
saries fairly together." Bayle, in his " Continuation des 
pensees diverses sur les Cometes," observed, that Cudworth 
by his plastic nature gave great advantage to the atheists ; 
and laid the foundation of a warm dispute between himself 
and Le Clerc upon this subject. Le Clerc frequently ex- 
pressed his wishes, that some man of learning would trans- 
late the " Intellectual System" into Latin ; but this design, 
though formed or entertained and attempted by several 
persons in Germany, was never executed till 1733, when 
the learned Mosheim published his translation of it. A 
second edition of the English was published by Birch, 
1743, in 2 vols, 4to, in which were first supplied, chiefly 
from Mosheim's Latin edition, references to the several 
quotations in the *' Intellectual^System," which before 
were very obscure and imperfect, but Mosheim had been 
at the pains to search them all out, and to note them very 
accurately. In Birch's edition, there are, besides the " In- 
tellectual System," the following pieces of our author, 
viz. the " 13iscourse concerning the true notion of the 
Lord's Supper," and " Two Sermons," on 1 John ii. 3, 4, 
and 1 Cor. xv. 57, to all which is prefixed an account of 
the life and writings of tlie author, by Dr. Birch. 

Cudworth (lied at Cambridge, June 26, 1688, and was 
interred in the chapel of Christ's college. He was a man 
of v,ery extensive erudition, excellently skilled in the 
learned languages and antiquity, a good mathematician, a 
subtle philosopher, and a profound metaphysician. The 
main design of his celebrated work, *' The Intellectual 
System," is to refute the principles of atheism, and in this 
lie has successfully employed a vast fund of learning and 
reading. But his partiality for the Platonic philosophy, in 
judging of which, after the example of his conteniporaiies, 



C U D W O R T H. 109 

he paid too much respect to the writings of the modern 
Alexandrian Phitonists, led him into trctpient mistakes. 
In physics he adopted the atomic system; bur, abantlornng 
Democritus and Epicurus as the first patrons of impiet}', 
he added to the doctrine of atoms that of a certain middle 
substance between matter and spirit, to which h~i gave the 
appellation of plastic nature, which he supposed to be the 
immediate instrument of tlie oivine operation ; and this 
hypotliesis gave rise to the controversy above-mentioned 
between Bayle and Le Clerc. Cudworth stands at the 
head of those divines who, considering the belief in a tri- 
une God as a fundamental article of Christian belief, main- 
tain that both the Platonic, and all the other Pagan trinities 
are only corruptions and mutilations of certain primaeval 
revelations and patriarchal traditions relative to the asserted 
distinction in the divine nature ; and he has very ably 
discussed this important subject in his Intellectual System. 
A great number of writers commend Cudworth's piety 
and modesty ; and Burnet having observed, that Dr. Henry 
More studied to consider religion as a seed of a deiform 
nature, and in order to this, set young students much on 
reading the ancient philosophers, chiefl}'^ Plato, TuUy, and 
Plotinus, and on considering the Cliristian religion as a 
doctrine sent from God, both to elevate and sweeten hu- 
man nature, tells us, that " Cudworth carried this on with 
a great strength of genius, and a vast compass of learning ; 
and that he was a man of great conduct and prudence ; 
upon which his enemies did very falsely accuse him of craft 
and dissimulation." He left several manuscripts which seem 
to be a continuation of his " Intellectual System," of which 
he had given the world only the first part. One of these 
was published by Chandler, bishop of Durham, 1731, in 
8vo, under this title, " A Treatise concerning eternal 
and immutable Morality." This piece was levelled against 
the writings of Hobbes and others, who revived the ex- 
ploded opinions of Protagoras ; takmg away the essen- 
tial and eternal differences of moral good and evil, of just 
and unjust, and making them all arbitrary productions of 
divine or human will. He left also several other MSS. 
with the following titles]: 1. A discourse of moral good and 
evil." 2. Another book of morality, whtrein Hobbes's phi- 
losophy is explained. 3, A discourse of liberty and ne- 
cessity, in which the grounds of the atheistical philosophy 
are confuted, and morality vindicated and explained. 4. 



110 CUDWORTH. 

Another book " De libero arhiLrio." 5. Upon Daniel's 
prophecy of the 70 weeks, wherein all the interprctauons 
of the Jews are considered and confuted, with several of 
some learned Christians. 6. Of the verity of the Chris- 
tian religion, against the Jews. 7. A disconrse of the crea- 
tion of the world, and immortality of the sonl. 8. Hehrcw 
learning. 9. An explanation of Hobbes's notion of God, 
and of the extension of spirits. The history of these MSS. 
is somewhat curious. Havin<r been left to the care of his 
daughter, lady Masham*, they for a long time quietly re- 
posed in the libraiy at Gates, in Essex. But, about the 
year 1762, when the late lord, Masham married his second 
lady, his lordship thought proper to remove a number of 
volumes of ancient learning, which had been bequeathed 
to the family by Mr. Locke, and the manuscripts of Dr. 
Cud worth, to make room for books of polite amusement. 
For this purpose, he sold either the whole, or a consider- 
able part of them, to Mr. Robert Davis, then a bookseller 
in Piccadilly. Mr. Davis being told, or having concluded, 
that the manuscripts were the productions of Mr. Locke, 
it became an object of consideration with him, how to con- 
vert them, as a tradesman, to the best advantage. They 
contained, among other things, sundry notes on scripture. 
About the same time, a number of manuscript scriptural 
notes by Dr. Waterland came into the possession of the 
booksellers. It was therefore projected, by the aid of such 
celebrated names as Mr. Locke and Dr. Waterland, to 
fabricate a new Bible with annotations. At a consultation, 
however, it was suggested, that, though these names were 
very important, it would be necessary, to the complete suc- 
cess of the design, to join with them some popular living 
character. The unfortunate Dr. Dodd was then in the height 
of his reputation as a preacher, and was fixed upon to carry 
on the undertaking. This was the origin of Dr. Dodd's 
Bible, and part of the materials put into his hands the 
doctor made use of in the " Christian Magazine." When 
the manuscripts were returned to Mr. Davis, he carried 
them down to Barnes in Surry, which was his country re- 
tirement, and threw them into a garret, where they lay 
exposed to the dangers of such a situation. About the 
beginning of the year 1777, a gentleman, who had a 

* Our author liad several sons, who Gates in the county of Essex, bart 

probably died young; but he left one Of this lady an account will be given 

daugliter, Damaris, who became se- hereafter. 
CQiud wife to sir Francis Masham, of 



C U D W O R T H. Ill 

veneration for the name of INIr. Locke, and was concerned 
to hear that any of his writhigs were in danger of being 
lost, went to Barnes, to see these manuscripts ; and bein"- 
positively assured by Mr. Davis, that tliey were the real 
compositions of that eminent man, he immediately pur- 
chased them for forty guineas. He was, liowevcr, soon 
convinced, after an examination of them, that the authority 
of the bookseller was fallacious, and having remonstrated 
against the deception, the vender condescended to take 
them again, upon being paid ten guineas for his disappoint- 
ment in the ne*jociation. In the investio^ation of the ma- 
nuscripts, the gentleman having discovered, by many in- 
contestable proofs, that they were the writings of Dr. Cud- 
worth, he recommended them to the curators of the British 
Museum, by whom they were purchased ; and thus, at last, 
after many perils and mutilations, tliey are sa-fely iodo-ed 
in that noble repository. ' 

CUERENHERT (Theodore van), a very extraordi- 
nary person, was a native of Amsterdam, where he was 
born in 1.522. It appears that early in life he travelled 
into Spain and Portugal, but the motives of his journey 
are not ascertained. He was a man of science ; and, ac- 
cording to report, a good poet. The sister arts he at first 
considered as an amusement only ; but at length was 
obliged to have recourse to engraving for his support, and 
though the different studies in which he employed his 
time prevented his application to this art from being so 
close as it ought to have been, yet marks of genius are dis- 
coverable in his works. They are slight, and hastily exe- 
cuted with the graver alone, in an open careless style, so 
as greatly to resemble drawings made with a pen. He 
was settled at Haerlem ; and there pursuing iiis favourite 
studies in literature, he learned Latin, and was made se- 
cretary to that town, from wiience he was several times 
employed as ambassador to the prince of Orange, to whom 
he addressed a famous manifesto, which that prince pub- 
lished in 1566. Had he stopped here, it had been well; 
but, directing his thoughts to matters which he did not 
understand, he brought forward an arcfuraent as dano-er- 
ous as It was absui'd. He maintained, that all reliu^ious 
communications were corrupted ; and that without a super- 

• Biog. Cvlt. — Burnet's Own Times. — Birch's Cudworth and Tillotson. — 
Gent. Maj LVIII. 1186 ; LIX. 123. 126.— Critical Review, LV. p. 391.— Avs- 
cough's Cat. of MSS. in Brit. Mus. 



112 C U E R E N II E R T. 

natural mission, accompanied with miracles, no person had 
any right to administer in any religious office : lie there-' 
fore pronounced tiiat man to be unworthy tiie name of a 
Christian who would enter any place of public worship. 
This he not only advanced in wortis, but strove to shew 
the sincerity of his belief in it by practice ; and for that 
reason would not communicate with either protestant or 
papist. His works were published in three volumes folio, 
16'60 ; and though he was several times imprisoned, and at 
last sentenced to banishment, yet he does not appear to 
have altered his sentiments. He died at Tergout in 1390, 
aged 68. It is to his honour as an artist, that he was the 
instructor of the justly-celebrated Henry Goltzius. Cue- 
renhert worked conjointly with the Gallesand other artists, 
from the designs of Martin Hemskerk. The subjects are 
from the Old and New Testament, and consist chiefly of 
middling-sized plates lengthwise. He also engraved seve- 
ral subjects from Frank Floris. ' 

CUFF (Henry), a celebrated wit and scholar, but 
memorable chiefly for the peculiarity of his fate, was de- 
scended from a good family, though some have insinuated 
the contrary, and born at Hinton St. George in Somerset- 
shire about 1560. He gave early marks of genius and ap- 
plication, and in 1576 was admitted of Trinity college in 
Oxford ; where he soon distinguished himself by his know- 
ledge of the Greek tongue, and an admirable faculty in 
disputing. He was elected scholar in May 1578, and was 
admitted fellow in May 1583, but had the misfortune to 
lose his fellowship for a witticism, which, either in jest or 
malice, he levelled at sir Thomas Pope, the founder of 
- his college. Sir Thomas, we are told, had a singular 
whim, upon visiting some persons, of seizing whatever he 
could lay his hands on, and carrying it off under his gown 
or in his pocket ; which, however, was not imputed to dis- 
honesty, but to humour. This induced Cuff in one of his 
merry moments to say, " A pox ! this is a poor beggarly 
college indeed : the plate that our founder stole, would 
build such another." The president, hearing of this, 
ejected Cuff from his fellowship ; not suffering prophane 
wit to be thus exercised within his walls, for fear perhaj)s 
that it should become contagious. Such is the story, as 
told by Wood, who says he had it from Dr. Balhurst ; but 

* Strutt's Dictionary. 



' -CUFF. 115 

'Mr. Warton has proved that he has misrepresentcfl it, nor 
was Cuff removed by the president, but by a mandate from 
lady Fowlett, the foundress, who first placed him tliere. 
Cuff's merit, however, was so great, and his reputation for 
learning so extraordinary, that he was, in 1386, elected 
probationer of Merton college by sir Henry Savile, then 
warden ; and two years after made fellow. He was con- 
sidered as a man capable of makintj a shiniiif fit^nre in 
life ; and that he was much esteen)ed by sir Henry Savile, 
appears not only from the instance of kindness just men- 
tioned, but also from a letter of his to the learned Camden, 
in which he gives him the highest character, and styles 
him his own and Camden's intimate friend. He wrote a 
Greek epigram in commendation of Camden's Britannia, 
which is prefixed to all the Latin editions, and to some of 
the English translations of it; and which has been much 
admired. He was afterwards promoted to the Greek pro- 
fessorship, and chosen proctor of the university in 1594-, 
While Greek professor, he assisted Columbanius in the 
first edition of Longus's elegant pastoral I'omance, printed 
at Florence in 1598. 

At what time he left Oxford, or upon what occasion, 
<loes not appear ; but there is some reason to believe, it 
was for tlie sake of travelling in order to improve himself. 
For he was always inclined rather to a busy, than to a re- 
tired life; and held, that learning was of little service t» 
any man, if it did not qualify him for active pursuits. This 
disposition recommended him much to the favour of the ce- 
lebrated Robert earl of Essex, who was himself equally fond 
of knowledge and business. Cuff became his secretary in 
1596, when the earl was made lord lieutenant of Ireland ; 
but it had been happier for him, if he could have con- 
tented himself with the easy and honourable situation, 
which his own learning, and the assistance of his friends in 
the university, had procured him. Even his outset was 
unfortunate; he accompanied the earl in his exj)edition 
against Cadiz, and after its successful conclusion, was 
dispatched with his lordship's letters to England, and, 
when he had landed, endeavoured witli the utmost speed, 
to arrive with them at the court. Beinof, however, unfor- 
Innately taken ill on the road, he was obliged to send up 
the letters, inclosed in one of his own, to Mr. Reynoldes, 
another of the earl's secretaries. Mr. Cuff', agreeably to 
large instructions which he had received from his lordship. 
Vol. XI. I 



114 CUFF. 

had drawn up a discourse couceniing the great action at 
Cadiz, vvliich the earl purposed to be published as soon as 
possible, both to stop all vagrant rumours, and to inform 
those tliat were well affected, of the truth of the whole. 
It was at the name lime to l)e so contrived, that neither his 
lordship's name, nor Cuff's, nor any other person's, con- 
nected with the earl, should either be openly mentioned, 
used, or in such a manner insinuated, as that the most 
slender guess could be made, who was the penman. The 
publication was to have the appearance of a letter that 
came from Cadiz, and the title of it was to be, " A true 
relation of the action at Cadiz, the 21st of June, under the 
earl of Essex and the lord admiral, sent to a gentleman in 
court from one that served there in good place." Sir 
Anthony Ashley, who was entrusted with the design, acted 
a treacherous part on this occasion. He betrayed the se- 
cret to the queen, and the lords of her council ; the con- 
sequence of which was, that Mr. FulkeGrevill was charged 
by her majesty to command Mr. Cuff, upon pain of death, 
not to set forth any discourse concerning the expedition 
without her consent. 

He was afterwards involved in all the misfortunes of that 
unhappy earl, and did not escape partaking of his fate. 
Upon the sudden reverse of the earl's fortunes, Cuff was 
not only involved, hut looked upon as the chief if not 
the sole cause and author of his misfortunes. Thus, 
When the earl was tried and condemned, February 19, 
1601, and solicited by the diyines who attended him while 
tinder sentence, he not only confessed matters prejudicial 
to Cufl", but likewise charged him to his face with being 
the author of all his misfortunes, and the j)erson who 
principally persuaded him to pursue violent measures. Sir 
Henry Neville, also, being involved in this uidiappy busi- 
ness, mentioned Cuff as the person who invited him to the 
meeting at Drury-house ; where the plot for forcing the 
carl's way to the queen by violence was concerted. Cuff 
was brought to his trial March 5th following, and although 
he defended himself with great steadiness and spirit, was 
convicted, and executed at Tyburn, March 30, 1601 ; 
dying, it is said, with great constancy and courage. He 
declared, at the place of execution, that " he was not in 
the least concerned in that wild commotion which was 
raised by a particular great but unadvised earl, but shut 
wp that whole day within the house, where he spent his 



CUFF. 115 

time in very melancholy reflections : that he never per- 
suaded any man to take up arms against the queen, but 
was most heartily concerned for beuig an instrument of 
bringing- that worthy gentleman sir Henry Neville into 
danger, and did most earnestly intreat his jjardon, &c. *" 
His character has been harshly treated by lord Bacon, 
sir Henry Wotton, and other writers. Camden also, who 
knew him intimately, and had lived many years in great 
friendship with him, says that he was a man of most ex- 
quisite learning and |)enetrating wit, but of a seditious 
and perverse disposition. Others are milder in their cen- 
sures ; and all allow him to have been a very able and 
learned man. He wrote a book an English, a very little 
before his death, which was printed about six 3'ears after, 
under this title: "The differences of the ages of man's 
life, together with the original causes, progress, and end 
thereof," 1607, 8vo. It has been printed more than once 
since, and commended as a curious and philosophical 
piece. Wood says, that he left behind him other things 
reatly for the press, which were never published. Bishop 
Tanner has given us the title of one ; viz. " De reb 



o 



us 



gestis in sancto concilio Nicaeno ;" or. The transactions in 
the holy council of Nice, translated out of Greek into 
Latin, and believed to have been the work of Gelasius 
Cyricenus, which was transcribed from the original in the 
Vatican library by Cuff. And in the " Epistolas Francisci 
et Johamiis Hotomanorum, Patris et Filii, et clarorum Vi- 
rorum ad eos," are several letters by Cuflt', to John Hot- 
man. These are said to exhibit distinguished marks of 
genius and learning ; to be written in elegant Latin ; and 
to contain some curious particulars. Mr. Warton informs 
us that, notwithstanding the severe check he received at 
Trinity college, he presented several volumes to the 
library. The manner of his death deprived him, as may 

* In vol. I. of the Annual Registpr, Enghuul must die like clogs, and be 
and the Gent, Mag;, vol. XLllI. the hanged. 'I'o niislike this were but 
following remarkable speech is given, folly : to dispute ^t, but lime lost : to 
we know not upon what auihoiity, as alter it, impossible. Rut to endure it, 
the dying speech of Mr. CulF: "Iain is manly; and to sourn it, magnani- 
here adjudged to die, for acting an act mity. Th« queen is displeased, the 
npYer plotted, for plotting a plot never lawyers injurious, and death terrible, 
acted. Justice will have her course; But 1 crave pardon of the queen ; for- 
accusers must be heard ; greatness give the lawyers, and the world ; de- 
will have the victory, .Scholars and sire to be forgiven ; and welcome 
martialists (though learning and va- death." This speech is at least cba- 
."^ur shaulj have the pre-eminence) in racteristic, 

1 2 



116 CUFF. 

easily be imagined, of a monument ; an old friend, how- 
ever, ventured to eaibalni liis memory in the following: 
epitaph : 

" Doctns eras Gra?co, felixque tibi fiiit alpha. 
At fuit infehx omega, Cuffe, tuum." 

Which has been thus translated : 

" Thou wast indeed well read in Greek ; 

Thy alpha too was crown'd with hope : 
But, oh ! though sad the truth I speak. 

Thy omega pro\ed but a I'ope."' 

C UJ ACIUS, or CUJAS (James), a celebrated lawyer, 
was born at Thoulouse about 1520. His parents were 
mean; but nature compensated for the favours of fortune, 
by the great talents she bestowed upon him. In his edu- 
cation he was independent of the assistance of teachers. 
He taught himself Greek and Latin, and every thing else 
which related to polite literature : and he arrived to so 
profound a knowledge of law in general, and of civil law 
in particular, that he is supposed of all the moderns to 
have penetrated the farthest into the origin and mysteries 
of it. The means by which he succeeded in these re- 
searches, were the same which the ancient lawyers pur- 
-sued ; the etymology of words, and the lights of history. 
Indeed he was some little time under Arnoldus ; but it 
was so little, that it can be esteemed of no account to him. 
With such talents and acquirements he had some reason 
to complain of his country, for refusing him the professor's 
chair when it was vacant, and presenting one to it who 
was not capable of filling it with half the honour. Fo- 
reigners, howev^er, did justice to his merit, came from all 
parts, and studied under his direction, and the ablest 
magistrates, which France then had, were formed by the 
instructions of this lawyer. From Thoulouse he was in- 
vited to the university of Cohors, and thence to Bourges. 
The king of France shewed him every honour, and per- 
mitted him to sit amongst his counsellors of parliament. 
Emanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, invited him to Turin ; 
and pope Gregory XHI. endeavoured to draw him to Bo- 
Jogna, his own native countrv, a very advantageous offer, 
which his age and infirmities did not permit iiim to accept. 
He continued to teach at Bourges, where he took the 

» Biog. r.rir.— Fuller's Worthies.— Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Waitou's Life of Sir T, 
Pope, p. 2J0. — Tunaer. 



C U J A C 1 U S. 117 

greatest pleasure in communicating familiarly to his friends 
and scliulars vvluitever lie had discovered in the law, and 
shewed them the shortest and easiest way to come to a 
perfect knowledge of that science. He was remarkable 
for his friendly manner of treating his scholars. He used 
to eat and drink with them ; and, to encourage them in 
their studies, lent them money and books, which pro- 
cured him the name of " Father of iiis scholars." He died 
at Bourges 1590; and his works were first published at 
Paris, lo'Si, folio, and afterwards by C. Hannibal Fabrot, 
at Paris, in 10 vols. 1659, folio, which is reckoned the 
best edition. With respect to his religious principles, in 
the critical times in which he lived, we are told that when 
his opinion was asked about some questions in divinity, 
then agitated with great warmth, he answered, " Nil hoc 
ad edictum praetoris :" which Gallio-like answer subjected 
him to the suspicion of indifference in religious matters.^ 

CULLEN (William), one of the most eminent phy- 
sicians of the last century, was born Dec. 11, 1712, of 
respectable though indigent parents in Lanarkshire. Hav- 
ing served a short apprenticeship to a surgeon and apo- 
thecary in Glasgow, he obtained the place of a surgeon in 
one of ihrf merchant's vessels from London to the West 
Indies. Not liking his employment, he returned to his 
own county, where he practised a short time in the parish 
of Shotts, among the farmers and country people, and 
then removed to Hamilton, intending to practise there as 
a physician. Wliile he resided near Shotts, Archibald 
duke of Argyle made a visit to a gentleman in that neigh- 
bourhood. His "race was encraired in some chemical re- 
searches which required elucidation by experiments, for 
which he then wanted the proper apparatus. The gentle- 
man, recollecting young CuUen, mentioned him as the 
person vvho could most probably supply his wants. He 
was consequently invited to dinner, and presented to the 
duke, with whom hs commenced an acquaintance, to 
which he was probably indebted for all his future fortune. 
The name of Cullen having thus become known, his repu- 
tation as a practitioner was soon established in the neigh- 
bourhood. The duke of Hamilton likewise happened then 
to be for a short time in that part of the country, and having 

1 Moreri. — Diet. Hist. — Freheri Theatrum. — Blount's Censura. — Saxii Ono- 
mast. — Of his tomb, se* Gent. Ala-, vol. X.XXVIII. from the Huetiana. 



118 C U L L E N. 

been suddenly taken ill, was induced by the character 
which he had heard of CuUen to send for his assistance, 
and was not only benetited b}^ his skill, but amply gratified 
with his conversation. He accordingly obtanied for him a 
place in the university of Glasgow, where his talents soon 
became more conspicuous. It was not, however, solely to 
the favour of these two o-reat men that Cullen owed his 
literary fame. He was recommended to the notice of men 
of science in a way still more honourable to himself. The 
disease of the duke of Hamilton having resisted the effect 
of the first applications, Dr. Clarke was sent for from 
Edinburgh; and he was so much pleased with every thing 
that Cuilen had done, that he becanse his eulogist upon 
ever}?^ occasion. Cuilen never forgot this ; and wiien 
Clarke died, gave a public oration in his praise in the 
university of Edinburgh ; which, it is believed, was the 
lirst of the kind in that kingdom. 

During his residence in the country, several important 
incidents occurred, that ought not to be passed over in 
silence. It was during this time that a connexion in 
business was formed in a very humble line between two 
men, who became afterwards eminently conspicuous in 
much more exalted stations. William, (afterwards Doctor) 
Hunter, the famous lecturer on anatomy in London, was a 
native of the same part of the country ; and these two 
young men, stimulated by the impulse of genius to prose- 
cute their medical studies with ardour, but thwarted by the 
narrowness of their fortune, entered into a copartnership 
business as surgeons and apothecaries in the country. The 
chief end of their contract being to furnish the parties with 
the means of prosecuting their medical studies, which 
they could not separatel}' so well enjoy, it was stipulated, 
that one of them alternately should be allowed to study in 
what college he inclined, during the winter, while the 
other should carry on the business in the countr}^ for their 
common advantage. In consequence of this agreement, 
Cuilen was first allowed to study in the university of Edin- 
burgh for one winter ; but when it came to Hunter's turn 
next winter, he, preferring London to Edinburgh, went 
thither. There his sinoular neatness in dissecting, and 
uncommon dexterity in making anatomical preparations, 
his assiduity ia study, his mildness of manner, and 
][)liabiiity of temper, soon recommended him to the notice 
uf Dr. Douglass, who then read lectures upon anatomy and 



C U L L E N. 119 

midwifery there ; who enjraGfed Hunter as an assistant, and 
whose chair he afterwards filled with so much honour to 
himself and satisfaction to the public. Thus was dissolved, 
in a premature manner, a partnership perhaps of as singu- 
lar a kind as is to be found in the annals of literature ; nor 
was Cullen a man of that disposition to let any engagement 
with him prove a bar to his partner's advancement in life. 
The articles were freely given up by him ; and Cullen and 
Hunter ever after kept up a very cordial and friendly cor- 
respondence ; though, it is believed, they never from that 
time had a personal interview. 

During the time that Cullen practised as a country sur- 
geon and apothecary, he formed another connexion of a 
more permanent kind, which, happily for him, was not 
dissolved till a very late period of his life. Very early in 
life he took a strong attachment to an amiable woman, a 
Miss Johnston, daughter to a clergyman in that neighbour- 
hood, nearly of his own age, who was prevailed on to marry 
him, at a time when he had nothing else to recommend him, 
except his person and dispositions. She was beautilul, 
bad great good sense, equanimity of temper, an anjiable 
disposition, and elegance of maimers, and brought with 
her a little money, which, however small in modern calcu- 
lation, was important in those days to one in his situation 
in life. After giving to uim a numerous family, and par- 
ticipating with him the changes of fortune which he expe- 
rienced, she peacefully departed this life in summer 1786. 

In the year 1716, Cullen, who had now taken the de- 
gree of doctor in physic, was appointed a lecturer in che- 
mistry in the university of Glasgow; and in the month of 
October be<ran his lectures in that science. His singular 
talents for arrangement, his distinctness of enunciation, his 
vivacity of manner, and his knowledge of the science he 
taught, rendered his lectures interesting to the students to 
a decree that had been till then unknown at that univer- 
sity. He became, therefore, in some measure, adored by 
the students. The former professors were eclipsed by the 
brilliancy of his reputation : and he had to experience all 
those little rubs that envy and disap|)ointed ambition natu- 
rally threw in his way. Regardless, however, of these, he 
pressed forward with ardour in his literary career; and, 
supported by the favour of the public, he consoled himself 
lor the contumely he met with from a few individuals. His 
practice as a physician increased frcm day to day ; and a 



120 C U L L E N. 

vacancy having occurred in the year 1751, he was then ap- 
pointed by the king professor of medicine in that univer- 
sity. This new appointment served only to call forth his 
powers, and to bring to light talents that it was not for- 
merly known he possessed ; so that his fame continued to 
increase. 

As, at that period, the patrons of the university of Edin- 
burgh were desirous of engaging the most eminent medical 
men to support the rising iame of the college, their atten- 
tion was soon directed towards CuUen ; who, on the death 
of Dr. Plummer, professor of chemistry, was, in 1756, 
unanimously invited to accept the vacant chair. This in- 
vitation he accepted : and having resigned all his employ- 
ments in Glasgow, he began his academical career in 
Edinburgh in the month of October of that year; and 
there he resided till his death. If the admission of Culleii 
into the university of (jlasgow gave great spirit to the 
exertions of the students, this was still, if possible, more 
strongly felt in Edinburgh. Chemistry, which had been 
till that time of small account in that university, and was 
attended to by very few of the students, instantly became 
a favourite study ; and the lectures upon that science were 
miore frequented than any others in the university, ana- 
tomy alone excepted. The students, in general, spoke of 
Culleu with the rapturous ardour that is natural to youth 
when they are highly pleased. These eulogiums appeared 
extravagant to moderate men, and could not fail to prove 
disgusting to his colleagues. A party was formed among 
the students for opposing this new favourite of the public ; 
and these students, by misrepresenting the doctrines of 
Cullen to others, who could not have an opportunity of 
hearing these doctrines themselves, made even some of 
the most intelligent men in the university think it their 
duty publicly to oppose these imaginary tenets. The fer- 
ment was thus augmented ; and it was some time before 
the j^rofessors discovered the arts by which they had been 
imposed upon, and universal harmony was then restored. 

During this time of public ferment, Cullen went stea- 
dily forward, without taking any part himself in these dis- 
putes. He never gave ear to any tales respecting his col- 
leagues, nor took any notice of the doctrines they taught. 
That some of their unguarded strictures might at times 
come to his knowledge, is not impossii)le ; but if they did, 
they seemed t;o. make no impression on his mind. These 



C U L L E N. 121 

attempts of a party of students to lower the cliaractcr of 
C'uUen oil his first outset in the university of Edinburgh 
having proved fruitless, liis fame as a professor, and his 
reputation as a physician, became more and more respected 
every day. Nor could it well be otherwise: CuUen's pro- 
fessional knowledge was always great, and liis manner of 
lecturino- sinjrularlv clear and intelligible, lively and enter- 
taining ; and to his patients, his conduct in general as a 
physician was so pleasing, his address so affable and en- 
gaging, and his manner so open, so kind, and so little 
regulated by pecuniary considerations, that it was impos- 
sible for those who had occasion to call once for his medi- 
cal assistance, ever to be satisfied on any future occasion 
without it. He became the friend and companion of every 
family he visited ; and his future acquaintance could not 
be dispensed with. 

Dr. Cullen also was justly admired in his conduct to his 
scholars, which was so attentive, and the interest he took 
in the private concerns of all those students who applied 
to him for advice, vvas so cordial and so warm, that it was 
impossible for any one who had a heart susceptible of ge- 
nerous feelings, not to be enraptured with attentions so 
uncommon and kind. The general conduct of Cullen to" 
his students was this. With all such as he observed to be 
attentive and diligent, he formed an early acquaintance, 
by inviting them by twos, by threes, or by fours at a time, 
to sup with him, conversing with them on these occasions 
with the most engaging ease, and freely entering with 
them on the subject of their studies, their amusements, 
their difficulties, their hopes, and future prospects. In 
this way, he usually invited the whole of his numerous 
class, till he made himself acquainted with tlieir abilities, 
their private character, and their objects of pursuit. Those 
amon<r them whom he found most assiduous, best dis- 
posed, or the most friendless, he invited the most fre- 
quently, till an intimacy was gradually formed, which 
proved highly beneficial to them. Their doubts, with re- 
gard to their objects of study, he listened to with atten- 
tion, and solved with the most obliging condescension. 
His library, which consisted of an excellent assortment of 
the best books, especially on medical subjects, was at all 
times o[)en for their accommodation ; and his advice, in 
every case of difficulty to them, they always had it in their 
power most readily to obtain. They seemed to be his. 



I2i C U L L E N. 

family; and few persons of distinguished merit have left 
the university of Edinburgh in liis time, with wliom he did 
not keep up a correspondence till they were fairly estab- 
lished in business. By these means, he came to have a 
most accurate knowledge of the state of every countr}', 
with respect to practitioners in the medical line: the only 
use he made of which knowledge, was to direct students 
in their choice of places, where they might have an op- 
portunity of engaging in business with a reasonable pro- 
spect of success. Many, very many able men has he thus 
placed in situations of business which they never could 
have thought of themselves; and some of them even now 
are reaping the fruits of this beneHcent foresight on his 
part. 

Nor was it in this way only that he befriended the stu- 
dents at the university of Edinburgh. Possessing a bene- 
volence of mind that made him ever think first of the wants 
of others, and recollecting the difficulties that he himself 
struggled with in his younger days, he was at all times 
singularly attentive to their pecuniary concerns. From his 
general acquaintance among the students, and the friendly 
habits he was in with many of them, he found no difficulty 
in discovering those among them who were rather in low 
circumstances, without being obliged to hurt their delicacy 
in any degree. To such persons, when their habits of 
study admitted of it, he was peculiarly attentive. They 
were more frequently invited to his house than others ; 
they were treated wilii more than usual kindness and fami- 
liarity ; they were conducted to his library, and encou- 
raged by the most delicate address to borrow from it freely 
whatever books he thought they had occasion for : and as 
persons in these circumstances were usually more shy in 
this respect than others, books were sometimes pressed 
upon them with a sort of constraint, b}^ the doctor insist- 
ing to have their opinion of such or such passages they had 
not read, and desiring them to carry the book home for 
that purpose. He in short behaved to them rather as if he 
courted their company, and stood in need of their ac- 
quaintance, than they of his. He thus raised them in the 
opinion of their acquaintance to a much higher degree of 
estimation than they could otherwise have obtained, which, 
to people whose minds were depressed by penury, and 
whose sense of honour was sharpened by the conscious- 
ness of an inferiority of a certain kind, was singularly 



C U L L E N. 



123 



engaging. Thus were they inspired with a secret sense of 
Uigiiity, which elevated their minds, and excited an un- 
common ardour of pursuit, instead ot" that njehuicholy 
inactivity whicli is so natural in such circumstances, and 
which too often leads to despair. Nor w;is lie less delicate 
in the manner of supplying their wanis, than attentive to 
discover them. He olten found out some polite excuse 
for refusing to take payment for a first course of lectures, 
and never was at a loss for one to an after-course, and by 
other delicate expedients he befriended those }oiuig tneii 
whose circumstances were not equal to their merit and in- 
dustry. It was also a constant ride with him never to take 
fees as a physician from any student at the university ; yet 
when called in, he attended them with the same assiduity 
as if they had been persons of the first rank, who paid him 
most liberally. This gradually induced others to adopt a 
similar practice; so that it became a general rule for me- 
dical professors to decline taking any fees when their as- 
sistance was necessary to a student. For this useful re- 
form, with many others, the students of the university of 
Edinburgh are solely indebtetl to the liberality of Dr. 
Cullen*. 

The first lectures which CuUen delivered in Edinburgh 
were on chemistry ; and for many years he also gave clini- 
cal lectures on the cases which occurred in the Royal In- 
firmary. In the month of February 1763, Dr. Alston died, 



* The following anecdote relative to 
this subject is not unamiising : A me- 
dical student who lodg'ed in the same 
bouse with Dr. Anderson the agricul- 
turist, in 1760, and wiio attended at 
that time a course of lectures given by 
one of the medical professors, but who 
never had attended Cullen's class, 
happened to be seized with the small- 
pox, which necessarily detained him 
from the class, and prevented him for 
the time from receiving any benefit 
from these lectures. At the beginning 
of the disorder, the young man, who 
waS bulky, and in a full habit of body, 
was sick, and very uneasy. He na- 
turally called in his own professor as a 
physician ; but in a short time ilie 
sickness abated, and the small-pox, of 
the most favourable kind, made their 
appearance, after which no idea of 
danger could be apprehended. In 
tiiis state of things, the whole family 
were very much surprised to find thai 



the patient called in the assistance of 
Dr. Cullen ; but he said he had rea- 
sons for this conduct, that he knew 
they would approve of when he should 
state them, though he declined to do 
it then. By and by, he became quite 
well ; so that there could be no pre- 
text for the physicians visiting him 
any longer. In this situation, he 
watched his op])Ortuni(y ; and when 
the physicians were both present, he 
thanked Dr. Cullen for the assistance 
he had given, and offered hiin money : 
hut this, as he hail foreseen, Cullen posi- 
tively declined. After gently inlreat- 
ing him to take it, and not being able 
to prcvad, lie turned to his own pro- 
fessor, and in like manner offered him 
money. But this, for shame, he 
could not possibly acccpl, though it 
was not known that this gentleman had 
ever before refused a fee when ofi'ered 
10 him. 



124 C U L L E N. 

after having begun his usual course of lectures on the ma- 
teria meilica; and the magistrates of Edinburgh, as patrons 
of that professorship in the university, ai)poiiited Dr. 
Cullen to that chair, requesting that he would finish the 
course of lectures that had been begun for that season. 
This he agreed to do ; and though he was under a neces- 
sity of going on with the course in a few days after he was 
nominated, he did not once think of reading the lectures 
of his predecessor, but resolved to deliver a new course, 
entirely his own. The popularity of Cullen at this time 
may be guessed at by the increase of new students who 
came to attend his course in addition to the eight or ten 
who had entered to Dr. Alston. The new students ex- 
ceeded one hundred. An imperfect copy of these lec- 
tures, thus fabricated in haste, having been published, the 
doctor thought it necessary to give a more correct edition 
of them in the latter part of his life; but his faculties 
being then much impaired, his friends looked in vain for 
those striking beauties that characterised his literary exer- 
tions in the prime of life. 

Some years afterwards, on the death of Dr. White, the 
magistrates once more appointed Dr. Cullen to give lec- 
tures on the theory of physic in his stead. And it was on 
that occasion Dr. Cullen thought it expedient to resign 
the chemical chair in favour of Dr. Black, his former pupil, 
whose talents in that department of science were then well 
known, and who filled the chair till his death with great 
satisfaction to the public. Soon after, on the death of Dr. 
Rutherford, who for many years had given lectures with 
applause on the practice of physic, Dr. John Gregory havmg 
become a candidate for this place along with Dr. Cullen, 
a sort of compromise took place between them, by which 
they agreed each to give lectures, alternately, on the 
theory and on the practice of physic during their joint 
lives, the longest survivor being allowed to hold either of 
the classes he should incline. In conserpience of this agree- 
ment, Dr. Cullen delivered the first course of lectures on 
the practice of physic, in winter 1766; and Dr. Gregory 
succeeded him in that branch the following year. Never, 
perhaps, did a literary arrangement take place, that could 
have proved more beneficial to the students than this. 
Both these men possessed great talents, though of a kind 
extremely dissimilar. Both of them had certain failings 
or defects, which the other was aware of, and counteracted. 



C U L L E N. 125 

Each of them knew and respected the talents of the other. 
7'hey co-operated, therefore, in tlie happiest manner, to 
enlarge the understanding, and to forward the pursuits of 
their pu):)lls. Unfortunately this arrangement was soon 
destroyed, by the unexpected death of Dr. Gregory, who 
was cut off in the flower of life by a sudden and unfore- 
seen event. After this time, Cullen continued to oive 

... "^ 

lectures on the practice of physic till a few months before 

his death, which happened on the 5th of February, lliJO, 
in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 

Although much of the character of this learned and 
amiable man may be collected from the preceding narra- 
tive, yet the following circumstances are too remarkable 
to be omitted. In his lectures Dr. Cnllen never attempted 
to read. They were delivered viva voce, without having 
been previously put into writing, or thrown into any par- 
ticular arrangement*. The vigour of his mind was such, 
that nothing more was necessary than a few short notes 
before him, merely to prevent him from varying from the 
general order he had been accustomed to observe. This gave 
to his discourses an ease, a vivacity, a variety, and a force, 
that are rarely to be met with in academical discourses. 
His lectures, by consequence, upon the same subject, 
were never exactly the same. Their general tenor indeed 
was not nmch varied ; but the particular illustrations were 
alwavs new, well suited to the circumstances that attracted 
the general attenticn of the da}', and were delivered in 
the particular way that accorded with the cast of mind the 
prelector found himself in at the time. To these circum- 
stances must be ascribed that energetic artless elocution, 
which rendered his lectures so grencrailv captivating: to his 
hearers. Even those who could not follow him in those 
extensive views bis penetrating mind glanced at, or who 
were not able to understand those apt allusions to collateral 
objects, he could only rapidly point at as he went along, 
could not help being v>arined in sorre measure by the vi- 
vacity of his manner. But to those who could follow him 
in his rapid career, the ideas he suggested were so nu- 

* This was the casp, however, with eye one moment from his written lec- 

some oihcr of the, eminent m<;dical ture ; ami if he had but to anBOiiiice a 

professors at thai time, paiticularly short vacation, or recommend a book 

Dr. Monro and Dr. Black, neither of to the perusal of liis scholars, each 

whom read. Of all the Ei'.inbur^h notice was penned, and read «ub great 

professors in oit time. Dr. B!air \ra^ precision. 
■ the ouly mau who could not trust tiiS 



126 C U L L E N. 

merous ; the views he laid open were so extensive ; and 
the objects to be attained were so important, that every 
active faculty of the mind was roused ; and sue h an ardour 
of enthusiasm was excited in the prosecution of study, as 
appeared to be inexphcable to those who were merely un- 
concerned spectators. In consequence of this unshackled 
freedom in the composition and delivery of his lectures, 
every circumstance was in the nicest unison with the tone 
of voice, and expression of countenance, which the par- 
ticular cast of mind he was in at the time inspired. Was 
he joyous, all the figures introduced for illustration were 
fitted to excite hilarity and good humour : was he grave, 
the objects brought under view were of a nature more 
solemn and grand ; and was he peevish, there was a pe- 
culiarity of manner, in thought, in word, and in action, 
which produced a most striking and interesting effect. 
The languor of a nerveless uniformity was never expe- 
rienced, nor did an abortive attempt to excite emotions that 
the speaker himself could not at the time feel, ever pro- 
duce those discordant ideas which prove disgusting and 
iinpleasing. 

It would seem as if Dr. CuUen had considered the 
proper business of a preceptor to be that of putting- his 
pupils into a proper train of study, so as to enable them 
to prosecute those studies at a future period, and to carry 
them on much farther than the short time allowed for aca- 
demical prelections would admit. He did not, therefore, 
so much strive to make those who attended his lectures 
deeply versed in the particular details of objects, as to trive 
them a general view of the whole subject; to shew what 
had been already attained respecting it ; to point out what 
remained yet to be discovered ; and to put them into a 
train of study that should enable them at a future period 
to remove those difficulties that had hitherto obstructed 
our progress ; and thus to advance of themselves to fartiier 
and farther degrees of perfection. If these were his views, 
nothing could be more happily adapted to them than the 
mode he invariably pursued. He first drew, with the 
striking touches of a master, a rapid and general outline of 
the subject, by which the whole figure was seen at once 
to start boldly from the canvas, distinct in all its parts, and 
unmixed with any other object. He then began anew to 
retrace the picture, to touch up the lesser parts, and to 
finish the whole in as perfect a manner as the state of our 



C U L L E N. 127 

knowledge at the time would permit. Where materials 
were wanting, the picture there continued to remain im- 
perfect. The wants were thus rendered obvious ; and the 
means of supplying these were pointed out with the most 
careful discrimination. The student, whenever he looked 
back to the subject, perceived the defects ; and his hopes 
beinor awakened, he felt an irresistible impulse to explore 
that hitherto untrodden path which had been pointed out 
to him, and hil up the chasm which still remained. Thus 
were the active faculties of the mind most powerfully ex- 
cited ; and instead of labouring himself to supply defi- 
ciencies Jiat far exceeded the power of any one man to 
accomplish, he set thousands at work to fulfil the task, and 
put them into a train of going on with it. 

It was to these talents, and to this mode of applying 
them, that Dr. CuUen owed his celebrity as a professor; 
and it was in this manner that he has perhaps done more 
towards the advancement of science than any other man of 
his time, though many individuals might perhaps be found 
who were more deeply versed in the particular departments 
he taught than he himself was. Chemistry, which was 
before his time a most disgusting pursuit, was by him ren- 
dered a study so pleasing, so easy, and so attractive, that 
it is now prosecuted by numbers as an agreeable recrea- 
tion, who but for the lights that were thrown upon it by 
Cullenand his pupils, would never have thought of engaging 
in it at all. 

According to a man who knew him well, there were three 
things which eminently distinguished Cullen as a professor. 
'* Ttie energy of his mind, by which he viewed every sub- 
ject witij ardour, and combinetl it immediately with the 
whole of his knowledge. The scientific arrangement which 
he gave tD his subject, by which there was a lacidm ordo 
to the dullest scholar. He was the first person in this 
country who made chemistry cease to be a chaos. A won- 
derful art of interesting the students in every thing which he 
taught, and of raising an emulative enthusiasm among 
them." . 

For some years before Dr. CuUen's death, his friends 
perceived a sensible decline of that ardour and energy of 
mind which so strongly characterised him at a former pe- 
riod. Strangers who had never seen him before, could 
not be sensible of this change ; nor did any marked decline 
in him strike them ; for his natural vivacity still was such 



128 C U L L E N. 

as might pass in general as the unabated vigour of one 
in prime of hfe. Yet then, though his vigour of body and 
mind were greater than others of his own age, it siiould never 
be forgot that tlie vigour of old age is but feeble, and the 
utmost energy of senility bears no resemblance to that gi- 
gantic ardour which characterises the man of genius in tiie 
prime of life. Cuilen to the last was great; but how dif- 
ferent from what he had been, those alone could tell who 
had an opportunity of knowing him in both situations, and 
who had at the same time not an opportunity of perceiving 
the change imperceptibly advance upon him, during the 
lapse of a continued intercourse. 

Dr. Cullen's external appearance, though striking, and 
not unpleasing, was not elegant. His countenance was 
expressive, and his eye in particular remarkably lively, 
and at times wonderfully penetrating. In his person he 
was tall and thin, stooping very much. When he walked, 
he had a contemplative look, and did not seem much to 
regard the objects around him. 

Dr. Cullen's writings are noticeable rather from their 
importance than number. We have mentioned that he 
never wrote his lectures. Copies of them, however, were 
taken in short-hand, and lent out to such students as wished 
to make transcripts. Finding on one occasion that his lec- 
tures on the materia medica were printing, he obtained 
an injunction against their being issued until he had cor- 
rected them ; and they were permitted to appear in 1772. 
In 1789 he gave an enlarged and improved edition of 
them, in 2 vols. 4to. Fearing a similar fate to his " Lec- 
tures on the Practice of Medicine," he published them in 
1784, in 4 vols. 8vo, under the title of " First Lines." 
But his most esteemed work is his " Synopsis Nosologias 
Practicse," in 2 vols. 8vo, which has passed through se- 
veral editions; the fourth, published in 1785, contains his 
last corrections. The first volume contains the nosologies 
of Sauvages, Linnaeus, Vogcl, iSagar, andMucbride; the 
second his own, manifestly an improvement on those of 
his precursors. A small publication concerning the reco- 
very of persons drowned, and seemingly dead, completes 
the works of this eminent professor.' 

CULLUM (Sir John), an accomplished antiquary, de- 
scended from a family seated in Suffolk early in the fifteenth 

* Life by Dr. James Anderson, in vol. I. of the Bee. 



C U L L U M. 129 

century, and at Hawsted in that county in 1656, of which 
latter place he has himself been the historian, was born in 
1733 ; educated at Catherine-hall, Cambridge, of which so- 
ciety he was afterwards fellow ; and obtained tlie first senior 
bachelor's dissertation prize in 1758. In April 1762 he was 
presented to the rectory of Hawsted, in Suffolk, by his 
father, who died in 1774; as did his mother in 1784. In 
March 1774, he became F. S. A. ; in December that year 
he was instituted to the vicarage of Great Thurlow, in the 
same county, on the presentation of his brother-in-law, 
the late Henry Vernon, esq.; and in March 1775 was 
elected F. R. S. His admirable History of the Parish of 
Hawsted (of which he was lord and patron), and Hardwick 
House, a perfect model for every work of the same nature, 
was originally published as the twenty-third number of the 
** Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica," and has in the 
present year (1813) been again offered to the public in a 
superior style of typography, with the addition of seven 
jiew plates. 

What collections sir John CuUutn possessed of his own 
and Mr. Thomas Martin's, for the county of Suffolk, may 
be seen in Mr, Gough's " Anecdotes of British Topogra- 
phy," vol. II, pp. 242, 247. Besides a variety of notes 
taken in his tours about England, he communicated to the 
Gentleman's Magazine : Observations on Cedars, vol. 
XLIX. p. 138, and on Yew-trees in Church-yards, ib. 
.578 ; to the Phil. Trans, vol. LXXIV. an Account of an 
Extraordinary Frost; and to the Antiquarian Repertor}', 
No. 32, an Account of St, Mary's church at Bury. He 
also revised the second edition, 1771, of the description 
of that ancient town. 

That sir John Cullutn was a profound antiquar}', a good 
natural historian, and an elegant scholar, the " History of 
Hawsted" sufficiently evinces. That he most punctually 
and conscientiously discharged the proper duties of his 
profession as a divine, has been testified by the grateful re- 
collection of his parishioners. His discourses in the pulpit 
were plain, unaffected, and rarely in any degree contro- 
versial ; adapted to the village congregation which he 
gladdened by residing very near them. His attention to 
their truest interest was unremitted, and his example their 
best guide. His friendships in private life were amiable ; 
and in his general commerce with the v.orld, the uniform 
placidity of his manners, and his extensive literary ac- 
VOL. XL K 



130 C U L L U M. 

quirements, secured to him universal esteem. He was 
among the most valued correspondents of Mr. Gough, who 
sincerely lamented his loss. A specimen of his familiar 
letters will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1797, 
vol. LXVII. p. 995. 

Sir John Cullum died Oct. 9, 1785, in the fifty-second 
year of his age ; and was buried (according to the express 
direction of his will, dated Dec. 1, 1784), in the church- 
yard at Hawsted, under the great stone that lies at the 
north door of the church. His relict, dame Peggy Cul- 
lum, the daughter of Daniel Bisson, esq. of West Ham, 
died Aug. 2, 1810, aged seventy-eight. Dying without 
issue, the title devolved on his brother, now sir Thomas- 
Gery Cullum, hart.' 

CULPEPPER (Nicholas), student, as he calls him- 
self, in physic and astrology, was born in London, Oct. 
18, 1616. He was the son of a clergyman, by whom he 
was sent, after receiving a preparatory education, to the 
university of Cambridge, at the age of eighteen. There 
making but a short sta}", he was put apprentice to an apo- 
thecary, under whom he appears to have acquired a com- 
petent knowledge of the materia medica, and of the me- 
thod of preparing and compounding medicines. On 
completing the term of his apprenticeship, he came to 
London, and settled in Spital-fields about 1642. By the 
whole tenor of his writings we find he joined, or at least 
favoured the Puritans, and those who were engaged in 
those unhappy times in overturning the constitution of the 
country. But his warfare was with the college of physi- 
cians, whom he accused of craft and ignorance. Like 
the popish clergy, he says they endeavoured to keep the 
people in ignorance of what might be useful either in pre- 
serving or restoring health. To counteract their endea- 
vours, he published, in 1649, a translation of the "Dis- 
pensary of the College of Physicians," in small 4to, adding 
to the account of each drug and preparation a list of their 
supposed virtues, and of the complaints in which they 
were usually given. He also published an " Herbal,'* 
which has passed through several editions, and is still in 
repute as a sort of family guide. He tells in this book 
under what planet the plants are to be gathered, which he 

» Life by Mr. Nichols, in the late edition of the History of Hawsted. See 
also some of his correspondence in Granger's Letters, published by MalcoloU, 
p. 125.134. 



CULPEPPER. 131 

thinks essential in preserving their virtues ; but Dr. Pul- 
teney says his descriptions of common plants are drawn up 
with a clearness and distinction tliat would not have dis- 
graced a better pen. He intended to treat of the diseases 
incident to men at the different periods of their lives, and 
as a beginning, gave a directory to midwives, on the me- 
thod of insuring a healthy progeny, and then of the ma- 
nagement of new-born children. Ihouiih this book is of 
very small value, it passed through many editions. He 
died at his house in Spital-fields, Jan. 10, 1653-4.' 

CULPEPER or CULPEPPER (Sir Thomas), second 
son of sir Thomas Culpeper of Hollingbourne, in Kent, 
knifrht, was born in 1636, and entered a commoner of 
University college, Oxford, in the beginning of 1640, and 
was created B. A. in 1643. He afterwards travelled, and 
on his return was elected ])robationer fellow of All Souls* 
collefre, but soon retired to his estate in Kent, and after 
the restoration received the honour of knighthood. When 
lie died is not ascertained, but probably it was about the 
end of the seventeenth century. He wrote: 1. "Moral 
Discourses and Essays upon several subjects," Lond. 1655, 
8vo. 2. " Considerations touching Marriage," 4to. 3. " A 
Discourse shewing the many advantages, which will accrue 
to this kingdom by the abatement of usury. Together 
with the absolute necessity of reducing interest of money 
%^ the lowest rate it bears in other countries," ibid. 1668, 
4to. This occasioned a short controversy, in consequence 
of which sir Thomas wrote, 4. " The necessity of abating 
Usury, re-asserted," ibid. 1670, 4to. 5, " Brief Survey 
of the growth of Usury in England, with the mischiefs 
attending it," ibid. 1671, 4to. 6. " Humble proposal for 
the relief of Debtors, and speedy payment of their Cre- 
ditors," ibid. 1671, 4to. 7. " Several Objections against 
the Reducement of Interest, propounded in a letter, with 
the answer thereto," ibid. 1671, 4to. He also wrote a 
preface to " A Tract against the high rate of Usury, pre- 
sented to the parliament in 1623," and reprinted by him 
in 1668 : it was originally written by his father, sir Thomas 
Culpeper, who died in 1661, and appears to have be- 
queathed to his son his sentimer.ts on usury, and the neces- 
sity of adjusting the interest of money on a new rate.' 

* Rees's Cyclopadia, from the Gpiit. Mag. vol. LXVM. where those who e.-»ri 
fi'cl any interest in Culpepper's history, m.iy meet witU many other particulars 
« Atb. Ox. vol. II- -Cent. Mag. vol. LXVII. 

K 2 



132 CUMBERLAND. 

CUMBERLAND (Richard), a very learned divine, and 
bishop of Peterborough, the son of an honest citizen of 
London, who by his industry acquired a competent, though 
not a great fortune, was born in the parish of St. Anne, near 
Aldersgate, July 15th, 1632. He was educated at St. 
Paul's school, under the care of Mr. John Langley, and was 
moved from thence to Magdalen- college, in Cambridge, 
probably in 1649, where he was contemporary with some 
very worthy and learned persons ; such as Dr. Hezekiah 
Burton, his intimate friend and acquaintance, a very 
learned and pious divine ; Dr. Hollings, an eminent phy- 
sician at Shrewsbury; sir Samuel Moreland, admired for 
his skill in the mathematics ; the celebrated Mr. Pepys, 
secretary to the admiralty ; and the lord keeper Bridge- 
man, to whom himself, and his friend Dr. Burton, were 
chaplains at the same time. He was very remarkable, 
while fellow of his college, for his diligent application to 
his studies, as well as for the unaffected piety and un- 
blemished probity of his life. He took his degree of B. A. 
in 1653, and in 1656 he became M. A. at which time he 
had thoughts of applying himself to physic, which he ac- 
tually studied for some time. He was incorporated M. A. 
in the university of Oxford, July 14th, 1657, and went 
out B. D. at a public commencement at his own university, 
A. D. 1663, with universal applause. His first preferment 
was the rectory of Brampton, in the deanery of Haddon, 
in the archdeaconry and county of Northampton, which 
was given him by sir John Norwich, a gentleman who de- 
scended of a most ancient and noble family, and was ad- 
vanced to the dignity of a baronet by king Charles the 
First. Mr. Cumberland was admitted December 3d, 1658, 
upon the demise of the reverend I\Ir. John Ward ; and 
after the restoration, having never had the least scruple to 
the authority of the church, he had a legal institution, and 
read the Thirty-nine Articles, as directed by law, No- 
vember 24th, 1661, and was the same year appointed one 
of the twelve preachers in the university of Cambridge. 
This, however, was a temporary avocation' only, owing to 
the high character he had raised by the masterly manner 
in which he had performed all academical exercises, and 
from which he quickly returned to the duties of his paro- 
chial charge. In this rural retirement he minded little else 
than the duties of his function, and his studies. His re- 
laxations from these were very few, besides his journies 



CUMBERLAND. 133 

to Cambridge, which he made frequently, to preserve a 
correspondence with his learned acquaintance in that place. 
Here he might probably have remained during the course 
of his whole life, if his intin)ate friend and kind benefactor, 
sir Orlando Bridgeman, upon his receiving the seals in 
1667, had not sent for him up to London, made him his 
chaplain, and soon after bestowed upon hiui the living of 
Alhallows, in Stamford. He discharged the functions of 
his ministry in that great town v.'ith indefatigable diligence; 
for, besides the duties incumbent upon him by his pa- 
rochial charge, he accepted of the weekly lecture, and 
then preached three times every week in the same church, 
and at the same time cultivated his philosophical, mathe- 
matical, and philological studies. He gave a noble proof 
of this, and one which equally demonstrated the soundness 
of his morals and the solidity of his parts, in publishing 
his work " De Legibus Naturae Disquisitio philosophica," 
Lond. 1672, 4to, written while he was chaplain to sir Or- 
lando Bridgeman, to whom it was dedicated, and there is 
prefixed to it a short preface to the reader, by the author's 
friend and fellow chaplain to the lord-keeper. Dr. Heze- 
kiah Burton. Dr. Cumberland being at a distance from 
the press when this book was published, it came into the 
world very incorrectly printed, and in subsequent editions 
these faults were multiplied in a very surprizing manner. 
We may hence form an idea of the excellency of a work 
that could, notwithstanding, support its author's reputa- 
tion both at home and abroad, and be constantly esteemed 
one of the best performances that ever appeared, and that 
too upon one of the nicest and most important subjects. 
Mr. Payne says very justly, that it was one of the first 
pieces written in a demonstrative way on a moral subject, 
and at the same time the most perfect. It is indeed on all 
hands admitted, that Hobbes was never so closely handled, 
or his notions so thoroughly sifted, as by Dr. Cumberland. 
He has, however, taken a new road, very different from 
Grotius, Puffendorff, and other writers, more difficult, 
and less entertaining indeed, but at the same time much 
more convincing. It was desired that a piece of such ge- 
neral utility should be made better known by being put 
into an easier method, and translated into the Enirlish Ian- 
guage. This the author would not oppose, thougli he did 
not undertake it ; being very sensible that the obscurity 
complained of by some, was really in the subject itself. 



134 CUMBERLAND. 

and would be found so by those who meddled with it. 
The project, however, was pursued by James Tyrrel, esq. 
grandson to the famous archbishop Usher, who published 
his performance under the following title : *' A brief Dis- 
quisition of the Law of Nature, according to the principles 
and method laid down in the reverend Dr. Cumberland's 
(now lord bishop of Peterburgh's) Latin treatise on that 
subject, &c." London, 1692, Svo. Mr. Payne had also 
an intention to have translated it, but was anticipated by 
the rev. John Maxwell, in a translation published at Lon- 
don, 1727, 4to; and in 17 50 appeared a third translation 
by the rev. John Towers, D. D. prebendary of St. Patrick's, 
Dublin, 4to, Dublin, with large explanatory notes, &c. 
In 1744, Barbeyrac published a French translation. 

The high fame and repeated praises of this work did 
rot divert the author from his studies or his duties ; and in 
his station of a private clergyman, so great was his repu- 
tation, that he was importuned by the university, and by 
other acquaintance, to take upon him the weighty exer- 
cise of responding at the public commencement. No- 
thinc: but the earnest solicitation of his friends could have 
prevailed with a man void not only of ambition, but of 
even the desire of applause, to appear so publicly. This 
he did in 1680, in so masterly a manner, as to be remem- 
bered for many years after. The next specimen of his 
abilities was his " Essay on Jewish Measures and Weights," 
1686, Svo, a work not only highly useful in its nature, 
but very much wanted, and was therefore received with 
the highest applause by the best judges, who were equally 
pleased with the method and matter, as well as the manner 
and conciseness, of the performance. It was afterwards 
reprinted, and will continue to support the reputation of 
its author, as long as this kind of literature is either en-- 
couraged or understood. His sincere attachment to the 
protestant religion made him very apprehensive of its 
danger ; and the melancholy pi'ospect of affairs in the 
reign of king James made so deep an impression on him 
as to affect his health. After the revolution he appears to 
have entertained no thoughts of soliciting for better pre- 
ferment ; and it was, therefore, a greater surprize to him- 
self than to any body else, when walking after his usual 
manner, on a post-day, to the coffee-house, he read there 
in a newspaper, that one Dr. Cumberland, of Stamford, 
was named to the bishopric of Peterborough. This piece 



CUMBERLAND. 13^ 

of intelligence, however, proved true, and he had the 
singular satisfaction of finding hinnself raised to a bishopric, 
not only without pains or anxiety, but witliout having so 
much as sought for it ; but at that time it was necessary to 
the establishment of the new government, that men who 
were to be raised to these high stations in the church, should 
be such only as had been most eminent for their learning, 
most exemplary in their lives, and firmest to the protestant 
interest; and whilst these qualifications were only con- 
sidered, the king, who in two years' time had appointed 
no less than fifteen bishops of the above character, was 
told that Dr. Cumberland was the fittest man he could no- 
minate to the bishopric of Peterborough. He was elected 
in the room of Dr. Thomas White, who refused the new 
oaths May 15th; was consecrated with other bishops, July 
5th, and enthroned September I2th, 1691, in the ca- 
thedral of Peterborough. He now applied himself to the 
work of a bishop, making no omissions to consult his own 
ease, or to spare his pains ; and the desires of his mind, 
that all under him should do their duty, were earnest and 
sincere. His composition had no alloy of vain-glory. He 
never did any thing to court applause, or gain the praise 
of men. He never acted a part, never put on a mask. 
His tongue and heart always went together. If he ran 
into any extreme, it was the excess of humility; he lived 
with the simplicity and plainness of a primitive bishop, con- 
versed and looked like a private man, hardly maintaining 
what the world calls the dignity of his character. He used 
hospitality without grudging ; no man's house was more 
open to his friends, and the ease and freedom with which 
they always found themselves entertained, was peculiar 
to it. The poor had substantial relief at his door, and 
his neighbours and acquaintance a hearty welcome to his 
table, after the plentiful and plain manner in which he 
lived. Every thing in his house served for friendly en- 
tertainment, nothing for luxury or pomp. His desire was 
to make every body easy, and to do them good. He dis- 
pensed vv'ith a liberal hand, and in the most private and 
delicate manner, to the necessities of others. His speeches 
to the clergy at his visitations, and his exhortations to the 
catechumens before his confirmations, though they had 
not the embellishments of oratory, yet they were fervent 
expressions of the inward desires of his soul to do what 
good he was able, and to excite others to be influenced 
by it ; the pious breathings of a plain and good mind. 



136 CUMBERLAND. 

On all occasions he treated his clergy with singular regard 
and indulgence. An expression that often came from him, 
was, '* 1 love always to make my clergy easy." This was 
his rule in ail applications made to him by them, and if he 
erred, it was always on this side. When the duties of his 
office required it, he never spared himself. To the last 
month of his life it was impossible to dissuade him from 
undertaking fatigues that every body about him feared 
were superior to his strength. He was inflexible to their 
intreaties, and his answer and resolution vyas, " I will do 
my duty as long as I can." He had acted by a maxim 
like this in his vigour. When his friends represented to 
him, that by his studies and labours he would injure his 
health, his usual reply was, *' A man had better wear out 
than rust out." The last time he visited his diocese, he 
was in the eightieth year of his age ; and at his next trien- 
nial, when he was in the eighty-third year of his age, it 
was with the utmost difficulty that he could be dissuaded 
from undertaking again the visitation of his diocese. To 
draw the clergy nearer than the usual decanal meetings, 
to make his visitations easier to himself, was a thing he 
would not hear of. Such were the public acts of this 
great prelate in the discharge of his duty as a father of the 
church. In respect to his temporal concerns, and his ma- 
nagement of the revenue arising from his see, he was not 
less liberal and munificent. His natural parts were not 
quick, but strong and retentive. He was a perfect master 
of every subject he studied. Every thing he read staid 
with him. The impressions on his mind were some time 
in forming, but they were clear, distinct, and durable. 
The things he had chiefly studied, were researches into 
the most ancient times ; mathematics in all its parts ; and 
the Scripture in its original languages : but he was also 
thoroughly acquainted with all the branches of philosophy, 
medicine, and anatomy, and was a good classical scholar. 
He was so thoroughly conversant in Scripture, that no diffi- 
cult passage ever occurred, either occasionally, or in reading, 
but he could readily give the meaning of it, and the se- 
veral interpretations, without needing to consult his books. 
He sometimes had thoughts of writing an exposition of 
the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, with a view to. 
set the doctrine of justification in a light very different 
from that in which it has been hitherto considered by most 
divines, but what that light was we are not told. One of 



CUMBERLAND. 137 

his chief objects was the examination of Sanchonlatho's 
Phoenician History, about which the greatest men had 
been most mistaken, and in relation to which none had 
entered into so strict an examination as our learned pre- 
late thought it deserved. He spent many years in these 
speculations ; for he began to write several years before 
the revolution, and he continued improving his design 
down to 1702. It may be justly wondered, that, after 
taking so much pains, and carrying a work of such diffi- 
culty to so high a degree of perfection, he should 
never judge it expedient to publish it; for though his 
bookseller refused to print the first part at a critical sea- 
son, yet afterwards both might have seen the light; and 
for this the most probable reason that can be assigned 
is, that thorough dislike he had to controversy. His 
son-in-law, ijowever, the rev. Mr. Payne, has done justice 
to his memor}-, and published it under the title of" San- 
chonlatho's PluEuician History, translated from the first 
book of Eusebius de Preparatione Evangelica," &c. Lond. 
1720, 8vo. Mr. Payne observes, that our author had a 
quicker sense than many other men, of the advances po- 
pery was making upon us, and was affected with the ap- 
prehension of it to the last degree. This made him turn 
his thoughts to the inquiry, by what steps and methods 
idolatry got ground in the world. The oldest account of 
this he believed he found in Sanchoniatho's fragment. 
This he saw was a professed apology for idolatry, and 
owned openly what other heathens would have made a se- 
cret of, that the gods of the Gentile world had been all 
mortal men. He studied this fraoment with no other view 
than as it led to the discovery of the original of idolatry. 
He spent some time upon it, before ever he had a thought 
of extracting from it footsteps of the history of the world 
preceding the flood. While other divines of the church of 
England were engaged in the controversy with the papists, 
in which they gained over them so complete a victory, 
our author was endeavouring to strike at the root of their 
idolatrous reliirion. These frasrments have exercised the 
talents of some of the ablest scholars that foreign nations 
have produced, and several of these, being able to make 
nothino- clear or consistent out of them, incline to think 
they were forgeries, and consequently not worthy of no- 
tice. Our prelate was not only of a different sentiment, 
f3ut with great knowledge and great labour, has made it 



138 CUMBERLAND. 

very evident that these fragments are genuine, and that 
he thoroughly understood them. He has proved that they 
contain the most ancient system of atheism and idolatry ; 
that very system which took place in Egypt, and was set 
up against the true religion contained in the writings of 
Moses. 

After bishop Cumberland had once engaged his thoughts 
upon this subject, fresh matter was continually rising, for 
the distribution of which into a proper method, so as to 
render a very perplexed subject intelligible, he found him- 
self under the necessity of undertaking a yet more extensive 
work than the former, in which he made some progress in 
the space of above twenty years, during which it employed 
his thoughts. To this piece, when finished, he proposed 
to have given the title of " Origines Antiquissimse," 
which were transcribed in his life-time, and, by his di- 
rection, by Mr. Payne. This treatise, which is properly 
a supplement to the first, was published in 1724, 8vo, 
under the title of " Origines Gentium Antiquissimge," 
or Attempts for discovering the times of the first planting 
of nations, in several tracts. — In bishop Cumberland's 
old age, he retained the easiness and sweetness of his 
temper, which continued to the last day of his life. His 
senses and bodily strength were more perfect than could 
w;_ell be expected, in a man whose course of life had been 
studious and sedentary. He remained a master of all the 
parts of learning he had studied when he was young. He 
ever loved the classics, and to the last week of his life 
would quote them readily^ and appositely. When Dr. 
Wilkins had published his Coptic Testament, he made a 
present of one of them to his lordship, who sat down to 
study this when he was past eighty-three. At this age he 
mastered the language, and went through great part of 
this version, and would often give excellent hints and re- 
marks as he proceeded in reading it. At length, in the 
autumn of 17 18, he was struck in an afternoon with a dead 
palsy, and breathed his last in his palace at Peterborough 
on October 9, in the same year, in the eighty-seventh 
year of his age. His corpse was interred in his own ca- 
thedral, where a plain tomb has been erected, with a 
modest inscription to his memory. His reputation at the 
time of his death was very great at home, and much greater 
abroad. He is mentioned in the highest terms of resj)ect 
by many foreign writers, particularly Niccron, MorholT, 



CUMBERLAND. 139 

Thomasius, Stollius, and Fourmont. His fame now rests 
chiefly on the works he published in his life-time. The 
Sanclioniatho and the Origines, although they afford ample 
demonstration of learned research, have not so well pre- 
served their credit. 

His great grandson, the subject of the next article, in- 
forms us upon the authority of his father, Dr. Denison 
Cumberland, that at the end of every year, whatever over- 
plus bishop Cumberland found upon a minute inspection 
of his accounts, was by him distributed to the poor, re- 
serving only one small deposit of 25/. in cash, found at his 
death in his bureau, with directions to employ it for the 
discharge of his funeral expences; a sum, in his modest 
calculation, fully sufficient to commit his body to the 
earth. — The late Mr. Cumberland deposited in the library 
of Trinity-college, Cambridge, a copy of the bishop's work 
*' De Legibus Naturae," interleaved and corrected through- 
out by Dr. Bentley. * 

CUMBERLAND (Richard), a late dramatic and mis- 
cellaneous writer, was the great grandson of the preceding. 
His father, Denison, so named from his mother, was edu- 
cated at Westminster school, and from that admitted fel- 
low-commoner of Trinity college, Cambridge. He mar- 
ried, at the age of twenty-two, Joanna, the younger 
daughter of Dr. Richard Bentley (the Phoebe of Byron's 
Pastoral) ; by whom he had a daughter, Joanna, and Ri- 
chard, the subject of this article. Though in possession 
of an independent fortune, he was readily prevailed upon 
by his father-in-law to take the rectory of Stanwick, in 
Northamptonshire, given to him by lord chancellor King, 
as soon as he was of age to hold it. From this period he 
fixed his constant residence in that retired spot, and se- 
dulously devoted himself to the duties of his function, 
never holding any Other preferment for thirty years, ex- 
cept a small prebend in the church of Lincoln, given hin» 
by his uncle bishop Reynolds, He was in the commission 
of the peace, and a very active magistrate in the reconcile- 
ment of parties rather than in the conviction of persons. — 
When the rebels were on the march, and had advanced to 
Derby, he raised among the neighbouring parishes two com- 
panies of 100 men each for the regiment then enrolling 
under the command of the earl of Halifax, and marched 

* Biog. Brit, principally from archiieacon Payne's Account, prefixed to 
Ui$ SaachoiiiatbOa 



140 CUMBERLAND. 

them in person to Northampton. The earl, as a mark of 
his consideration, insisted upon bestowing one of the com- 
panies upon his son, who being too young to take the com- 
iriaud, an officer was named to act in his place. Some 
time after, on the approach of the general election for the 
county of Northampton, a contest took place with the 
rival parties of Knightly and Hanbury, or, in other words, 
between the tories and the whigs. His politics accorded 
with the latter, and he gave a very active and effectual 
support to his party. His exertions, though unsuccessful, 
were not overlooked by the earl of Halifax, who was then 
high in office, and lord lieutenant of the county. Offers 
were pressed upon him ; yet, though he was resolute in 
declining all personal favours, he was persuaded to lend 
an ear to flattering situations pointed out for his son, who 
was short!}' afterwards employed by lord Halifax as his 
confidential secretary. In 1757 he exchanged the living 
of Stanwick for Fulham, in order to be nearer his son, 
whose attendance on the earl of Halifax required his resi- 
dence in town. On the earl being appointed lord- lieu- 
tenant of Ireland, he was made one of his chaplains ; and 
in 1763, at the close of his lordship's administration, was 
promoted to the bishopric of Clonfert. In this situation he 
much ingratiated himself with all classes of people by his 
benevolence and geneiosit3\ He introduced many im- 
provements and comforts among the Irish peasantry. He 
encouraged the English motle of agriculture by judicious 
rewards ; and, as one of the members of the linen trade, 
introduced a number of spinning-wheels, and much good 
linen was made in consequence. This improving manu- 
facture formed an interesting occupation also to iiis lad}^ 
and flourished under her care. The- city of Dublin pre- 
sented him with his freedom in a gold box, an honour 
never before (except in the remarkable instance of dean 
iSwift) conferred on any person below the rank of a 
chief governor; and the deed which accompanied it as- 
signed as the motive, the great respectability of his cha- 
racter, and his disinterested protection of the Irish clergy. 
In 1772 he was translated to the see of Kilmore. Some 
alarming symptoms soon after indicated the breaking up 
of his constitution, which was increased by the anxiety he 
experienced, through the debility and loss of health of his 
amiable la^v._^\'lien his son took leave of him at the end 
of his suaiffl^r\'is^t,'^iYe bishop expressed an intention of 



C U M E E ULAN D. 141 

attempting a journey to England; but died in the winter of 
the same year ; and this sad event was speedily succeeded 
by the death of his lady, whose weak and exhausted frame 
sunk under the blow, May 27, 1775. 

Richard, the subject of this article, was born Feb. 19, 
1732, under the roof of his grandfather Bentley, in the 
master's lodge in Trinity college. When turned of six years 
of age, he was sent to the school at Bury St. Edmund's, 
then under the mastership of the reverend Arthur Kins- 
man. For some time he made but little progress in his 
learning; till Kinsman, having observed his low station in 
the school, publicly reproved him ; and thus roused in 
him a spirit of emulation. While he continued in this 
school, his grandfather Bentley died ; and the affectionate 
manner in which Kinsman imparted the melancholy event 
to him, with the kind regard he evinced for his improve- 
ment, wrought so much upon his mind, that his task be- 
came his delight. In his exercises, however, he describes 
himself, in his " Memoirs," as aiming at something like 
fancy and invention, and as being too frequently be- 
trayed into grammatical errors, which did him no credit 
witli his master, who commented on his blunders in 
one instance with great severity, producing so great an 
effect on his sensibility, that he never perfectly recovered 
it. It was about this time that he made his first attempt 
in English verse ; the subject of which was an excursion 
he had made with his family in the summer holida3's to visit 
a relation in Hampshire, which engaged him in a descrip- 
tion of the docks at Portsmouth, and of the races at Win- 
chester, where he had been present. This little poem he 
exhibited to his father, who received it with unreserved 
commendation, and persisted in reciting it to his intimates, 
when its author had gained experience enough to wish it 
had been consigned to oblivion. In the intervals from 
school his mother began to form both his taste and his ear 
for poetry, of which art she was a very able mistress, by 
employing him every evening to read to her. Their read- 
ings were, with few exceptions, confmed to Shakspeare, 
whom she both admired and understood in the true spirit 
and sense of the author. Under her instruction he became 
passionately fond of these evening entertainments, and the 
effect was several attempts on his part towards the drama. 
He was then head -boy of Bury school, though only in his 
12th year. He fitted and compiled a kind of cento, en- 



142 C U M B E il L A N D. 

titled " Shakspeare in the Shades," in one act, in xvhich 
the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia, Romeo and Juliet, 
Lear and Cordelia, were introduced, and Ariel as an at- 
tendant spirit on Shakspeare, who is present through the 
piece: some extracts from this juvenile production are 
printed in his " Memoirs." Mr, Kinsman intimating his 
purpose of retiring from Bury school, young Cumberland 
was transplanted to Westminster, and admitted under Dr. 
Nichols, where he remained about a year and a half; and 
particularly profited there in point of composition. When 
only in his fourteenth year, he was admitted of Trinity 
college, Cambridge, where he had two tutors, who took 
little care of him; but the inconvenience of this being soon 
felt, the master of the college, Dr. Smith, in the last year of 
his being under-graduate, recommended him to lose no timef 
in preparing for his degree, and to apply closely to his 
academical studies for the remainder of the year. During 
the year of trial, he determined to use every effort for re- 
deeming lost time ; he began a course of study so appor- 
tioned as to allow himself but six hours' sleep, to which he 
strictly adhered, living almost entirely upon milk, and 
using the cold bath very frequently. In the several branches 
of mechanics, hydrostatics, optics, and astronomy, he made 
himself master of the best treatises ; he worked all his pro- 
positions, and formed all his minutes, even his thoughts, 
in Latin, and thereby acquired advantages superior to 
some of the best of his contemporaries in public disputa- 
tions ; for, so long as his knowledge of a question could 
supply matter for argument, he never felt any want of 
terms for explanation. In consequence of this diligence, 
he was enabled to go through his scholastic exercises four 
times in the course of the year, keeping two acts and two 
first opponencies, and acquitted himself with great credit. 
On being cited to the senate house for examination for 
the bachelor's degree, he was kept perpetually at the table 
under the process of question and answer. His constitu- 
tion, considerably impaired by the intense application he 
had given, just held him up to the expiration of the scru-» 
tiny ; and on hastening to his father's, he soon fell ill of a 
rheumatic fever, 'from which, after six months' care and 
attention, he was recovered. While in this state of ex- 
treme indisposition, a high station was adjudged to hini 
amongst the wranglers of his year. 

Having thus, in 1750, at an age more than commonly 



CUMBERLAND. 143 

early, obtained his bachelor's degree, with tlie return of 
his health he resumed his studies, and, without neglect- 
ing those he had lately been engaged in, again took up 
those authors who had lain by untouched for a whole twelve- 
month. Being in the habit of reading upon system, he 
began to form coilectanea of his studies. With this view he 
got together all the tracts relative to the controversy 
between Boyle and Bentley, omitting none even of the 
authorities and passages they referred to ; and having done 
this, compressed the reasonings on both sides into a kind of 
statement and report upon the question in dispute ; and, 
havinor accomplished this, he meditated upon a plan little 
short of what might be projected for an universal history, 
or at least for that of the great empires in particular. But 
he was perhaps more agreeably employed in reading the 
Greek tragedians; and when Mason published his Elfrida, 
was warm in his praise of that generally-admired produc- 
tion ; and, in imitation, planned and composed an entire 
drama, of which Caractacus was the hero, with bards and 
druids attached to it as a chorus, for whom he wrote odes. 

About this time his father was persuaded to listen to 
some flattering offers of situations for him ; but, as his 
health was still in an unsettled state, he joined with his 
family in an excursion to York, where he passed half a 
year in the society and amusements of that city. The 
style of living there was a perfect contrast with what he had 
been accustomed to : he hunted in the mornings, danced 
in the evenings, and devoted but little time to study. He 
here got hold of Spenser's Fairy Queen, in imitation of 
which he began to write stanzas to the same measure ; at 
other times he also composed short elegies in the manner 
of Hammond ; but for these pursuits he was seasonably 
reproved by his mother, and relinquished them ; and on 
his return to college, he vvas soon invited to the master's 
lodge by Dr. Smith, who honoured him with approbation 
of his past exertions, and imparted to him a new arrange- 
ment that had been determined upon, for annulling so 
much of the existing statutes as restricted all bachelors of 
arts, except those of the third year's standing, from ofl'er-r 
ing themselves candidates for fellowships. Dr. Smith also 
kindly recommended him, as he should be in the second 
year of his degree at the next election, to present himself 
for examination. 

Whilst he vvas preparing to resume his studies with in- 



144 CUMBERLAND. 

creased attention, he received a summons from lord Hali- 
fax to assume the situation of his private confidential se- 
cretary. He accordingly came to town ; but, among the 
new connexions in which he was cousequently thrown, he 
met with nothing that in any degree interested him, and at 
the recess he accompanied lord Halifax to Horton, and 
from thence went to Cambridge. There were six va- 
cancies, and six candidates of the year above him. They 
undervv^ent a severe examination from the electing seniors ; 
and Cumberland particularly from Dr. Smith, the master; 
and on the next day Cumberland and Mr. Orde (afterwards 
master in chancery), who was of the same year, were an- 
nounced as elected, to the exclusion of two of the year 
above diem. After his election, he went home to Stan- 
wick, and from thence made a short visit to lord Halifax. 

On his return to town he was as much sequestered from 
the world as if he had been resident in his college. About 
this time he made his first small offering to the press, fol- 
lowing the steps of Gray with another churchyard *' Elegy, 
written on St. Mark's Eve," when, according to rural tra- 
dition, the ghosts of those who are to die within the year 
ensuing are seen to walk at midniarht across the church- 
yard. It had been written in one of his college vacations, 
some time before he belonged to lord Halifax : " The pub- 
lic," he observes in his Memoirs, " were very little in- 
terested with it, and Dodsley as little profited." 

While he was with lord Halifax, Mr. Charles Towns- 
hend was passing a few days at Horton ; and among a 
variety of subjects which his active imagination was for 
ever starling, something occurred to his recollection of an 
enigmatical sort, that he wished to have the solution of, 
and could not strike upon it : it was only to be done by a 
geometrical process, which Cumberland hit upon : he 
worked it as a problem, and gave a solution in writing, 
with which Mr. Townshend was much pleased. Mr. Towns- 
hend afterwards put into Cumberland's hands a long and 
elaborate report of his own drawing up (for he was then 
one of the lords of trade) ; and requested him to revise it, 
and give his remarks without reserve ; and the manner in 
which this service was performed strengthened Mr. Towns* 
liend's good opinion of Cumberland. 

About this time he employed himself in collecting ma- 
terials from the History of India, for the plan of a poem iu 
lieroic verse, on which he bestowed considerable labour, 



CUMBERLAND. 145 

and in which he had made some progress. This desio^n, 
however, was laid aside; hut a specimen of it, respecting 
the discoveries of the Portuguese, is preserved in liis 
" Memoirs." 

After the death of lady Halifax, on coming to town for 
the winter season with his patron, he read and wrote in- 
cessantly, and lived in all the temperance, and nearly all 
the retirement, of a hermit. The residence in town, how- 
ever, which his attendance upon lord Halifax entailed 
iipon him, and the painful separation from his family, 
became almost insupportable to him. But, whilst he was 
meditating a retreat, his father exchanged his living of 
Stanvvick for Fulham, in order to afford him an easier ac- 
cess to his friends. In consequence of his occasional visits 
there, he became a frequent guest at La Trappe, the 
house of the eccentric Mr. Dodington, and passed much 
lime with him there, in London also, and occasionally ia 
Dorsetshire, His attendance on lord Halifax did not pre- 
vent his continuing this intimacy : indeed it was corre- 
spondent with lord Halifax's wishes that he should cultivate 
Mr. Dodington's acquaintance; for his lordship not only 
lived with him upon intimate terms as a friend, but was 
now in train to form some opposition connexions, havino- 
at this time thrown up his office of first lord of trade and 
plantations, and detached himself from the duke of New- 
castle's administration. In the summer of this year he 
went to Eastbury, the seat of Mr. Dodington, where he 
remained some time, and had ample opportunity of ob- 
serving the character of his host, of which he has given an 
interesting description in his "Memoirs," as well as that 
of many distinguished visitors there. Lord Halifax and 
some friends were resident there during the whole of his 
visit; and during the same period, Cumberland addresseU 
a poem of 400 lines to Dodington, partly in compliment 
to him, and in part consolatory to lord Halifax upon the 
event of his retiring from public office : they flattered the 
politics then in favour with Mr. Dodington, and coincided 
with his wishes for detachinor lord Halifax from the admi- 
nistration of the duke of Newcastle. 

On his return from Dorsetshire he was invited by his 
friends at Trinity college to offer himself as a candidate for 
a lay-fellowship then vacant, in which he succeeded, but 
did not hold it long, as it could oidy be held on the terms 
©f celibacy. About this time he vvTote bis first legitimate 

Vol. XI. L 



146 C U M B E R L A N D. 

drama, in five acts, *' The Banishment of Cicero ;" u per- 
formance which, though occasionally inaccurate in the dic- 
tion, and the plot totally unsuited to scenic exhibition, as 
a dramatic poem will bear examination. It was, however, 
rejected by Garrick, as unfit for the stage, but published 
by the author in 1761, 4to. 

Having obtained, through the patronage of lord Halifax, 
a small establishment as crown agent for Nova Scotia, Mr. 
Cumberland tendered his addresses to Elizabeth, the only 
daughter of George Ridge, esq. of Kilmiston, Hants, to 
whom he was married, Feb. 19, 1759. On the king's ac- 
cession to the throne, Mr. Cumberland composed and pub- 
lished without his name, a poem in blank verse addressed 
to the young sovereign ; and on the appointment of lord 
Halifax to be lord lieutenant of Ireland, he accompanied 
that nobleman as Ulster secretary, and his father was 
made one of the chaplains. William Gerard Hamilton was 
at this time chief secretary, but not by the choice of lord 
Halifax, to whom he was little known, and in the first 
instance not altogether acceptable, and Cumberland's si- 
tuation appears to have been unpleasant. However, to- 
wards the close of the session his lordship expressed his 
satisfaction in Cumberland's services, and oflfered him a 
baronetcy, an honour which after due consideration he 
declined, though he says he had afterwards reason to think 
that it contributed to weaken his interest with lord Halifax, 
Why such an honour should have been ofi'ered to a young 
man totally unprovided for, we know not. Even wlien his 
patron was made secretary of state, he applied, in vain, for 
the situation of under-secretary, and afterwards obtained 
only the clerkship of reports in the oflSce of trade and 
plantations under the earl of Hillsborough. 

Bickerstaff having brought forward with success his 
operas of " Love in a Village," and " The Maid of the 
Mill," Mr. Cumberland attempted a drama of that sort, 
under the title of " The Summer's Tale," which was per- 
formed for nine or ten nights, but with no great applause ; 
the music to it was the production of Bach, Arne, Arnold, 
and Simpson. This drama was published in 1765, and the 
author afterwards cut it down to an afterpiece of two acts, 
and exhibited it luider the title of " Amelia" with very 
tolerable success; and published it in 1768. His next 
production was the comedy of "The Brothers," v.hich was 



, C U M B E R L A N D. 147 

hrought out at Covent Garden, and well received, and 
published in 1769. 

During a visit at his father's at Clonfert, in a little closet 
at the back of the palace, with no other prospect than a 
shigle turf-stack, he began to plan and compose " The 
West Indian." It was his oi)ject always in his hours of 
study, so to place himself, as to have little or nothing to 
ilistract his attention. During his stay in Ireland, he re- 
ceived from the university of Dublin the honorary degree 
of LL.D. On iiis return to London he entered into an en- 
gagement with Garrick to bring out the " West Indian" at 
his theatre; and availed himself of Garrick's suggestions 
in adding a nev/ scene and other improvements. This 
piece (which appeared in 1771) proved successful beyond 
the utmost expectation of its author, who was aware tliat 
the moral was not quite unexceptionable. 

Mr. Cumberland now for the first time entered the lists of 
controversy, in a pamphlet entitled " A Letter to the ri^^ht 

rev. the lord bishop of O d (Lowth) containing some 

animadversions upon a character given of the late Dr. 
Bentley, in a Letter from a late professor in the university 
of Oxford to the riuht rev. author of the Divine Lesfation.*' / 
ccc. It passed through two editions. Dr. Lowth did not 
reply to this pamphlet : nor did he accept the services of 
a clergyman of his diocese, who offered to undertake it ; 
acknowledging that Cumberland had just reason for re- 
taliation. 

During his residence in Queen Anne-street East, an 
event occurred wliich evinced in a striking manner his dis- 
interested generosity and high sense of honour. He was 
visited by an old clergyman, the rev. Decimus Reynolds, 
son of bishop Reynolds, and first cousin to his father. This 
gentleman, without any previous ititimacy, had bequeathed 
to Ciunberland his estate twenty years before : he brono-ht 
the will in his hand ; but required that Cumberland 
should accompany him to a conveyancer, and direct that a 
positive deetl of gift should be drawn up ; for which pur- 
pose he had brought the title-deeds, and should leave 
them with Cumberland. Cumberland conjured Mr. Rey- 
nolds to inform him if he had any cause of displeasure with 
his nearer relations; stating that his natural heir was a man 
of most unexceptionable worth and good character. Mr. 
Reynolds stated that he left it to Cumberland, as beino- the 

L 2 



148 CUMBERLAND. 

representative of the maternal branch of his family ; that 
Cumberland's father had ever been his valued friend; and 
that he had constantly watched Cumberland's character, 
though l)e had not established any personal acquaintance 
with him. Upon this explanation, and the evidence of 
Mr. Reynolds's having inherited no atom of his fortune from 
his paternal line, Cumberland consented to the drawing 
lip of the deed, causing, however, highly to his honour, a 
clause of resumption to be inserted, impowering the donor 
to revoke his deed at any future time. This clause Mr. 
Reynolds was with great difficulty prevailed on to admit; 
prophetically observing, that it left him exposed to the 
solicitations of his relations, and in the debility of age, he 
might be pressed into a revocation of what he had decided 
upon as the most deliberate act of his life. After ten 
years of uninterrupted cordiality between them, this re- 
sumption actually took place ; major Reynolds, the nephew 
of tiie old gentleman, bringing his order for tlie whole of 
the title-deeds ; which were immediately delivered up by 
Cumberland exactly as he had received them. 

About this time he became a member of a pleasant li* 
terary society, who used to dine together upon stated days 
at the British cotFee-house ; and at one of these meetings 
it vs'as suggested to him to delineate the character of a 
North Briton, as he had already those of an Irishman and 
a West Indian. He adopted the suggestion, and began to 
frame the character of Colin Macleod, in his comedy of 
*' The Fashionable Lover," upon the model of a Highland 
servant who, with scrupulous integrity and a great deal of 
nationality about him, managed all the domestic affairs of 
sir Thomas Mills's household, and being a great favourite 
of every body who resorted there, became in time, as it 
were, one of the company. This comedy, in point of 
composition, he thought superior to the West Indian ; but it 
did not obtain equal success with that drama. When this 
play came out, he made serious appeals against cavillers 
and slanderers below his notice, which induced Garrick to 
call him *' the man without a skin," and this soreness to 
criticism became afterwards one of the most distinguishing 
features of his character. His fourth comedy of *' The 
C4ioleric Man," was performed with approbation ; but its 
author was charged in the pui^lic prints with venting 
contemptuous and illiberal speeches against his contem- 
poraries. This induced him to prefix to his con^cdy, when he 



CUMBERLAND. H9 

pu))lished it, a " Dedication to Detraciion," the chief oLject 
of wliich was directed to a tract entitled '' An Essay on 
the Theatre," in which the writer professes to draw a com- 
parison between huighing and sentimental comedy, and 
under the hitter description particularly points his obser- 
vations to " The Fashionable Lover." 

His next dramatic production was *' Timon of Athens," 
altered from Shakspeare, in which the entire part of 
Evanthe, and, with very few exceptions, the whole of Al- 
cibiades, were new. The public approbation sanctioned 
the attempt at the first production of the play; but it has 
since been neglected. In compliance with the wishes of 
Moody, who had become the established performer of 
Irish characters, Cumberland sketched another Hibernian, 
on a smaller scale, in the entertainment of " The Note of 
Hand, or a Trip to Newmarket," which was the last of his 
pieces that Garrick produced before he disposed of his 
property in Drury-lane. His tragedy of " The Battle of 

Hastinns" was brought out there under the direction of Mr. 

■ 1 • 1 

Sheridan. In his own judgment it was better written 

than planned. It was published in 1773. 

His prospects in life began now to brighten ; for, on the 
accession of lord George Germaine to office, he was pro- 
moted to be secretary to the board of trade, which pro- 
duced an increase of income that could not be otherwise 
than acceptable to the father of six children. His lordship 
took particular notice of Cumberland, and continued his 
kind patron and friend till death. 

Mr. Cumberland afterwards resided atTetworth in Bed- 
fordshire, in the vicinity of the house of his honoured 
friend lady Frances Burgoyne, sister of lord Halifax. Here 
he passed his summer recesses; and in one of them wrote 
his opera of " Calypso," which was brought out at Covent 
Garden ; but did not meet with very great success. In the 
foUowinor season Cumberland wrote " The Widow of Del- 
phi, or the descent of the Deities," which has never been 
printed, but received frequent revisions and corrections 
in the MS. and its author considered it in this improved 
state as one of his most classical productions. About this 
time appeared his tragi-comedy of " The Bondman," and 
" The Duke of Milan," altered ; neither of which has been 
printed. 

In 1780, Cumberland was appointed on a confidential 
mission to the courts of Lisbon and Madrid ; a situation 



150 CUMBERLAND. 

which, however honourable, seems to have laid the foun- 
dation of all his future distresses, and to have embittered 
every remaining hour of a long-protracted existence. The 
direct object of his embassy was to draw the court of Spain 
into a separate treaty of peace with this country ; and but 
for the disturbances which took place at that period in 
London, it is probable that he migbt have proved success- 
ful in his endeavours, since his conduct gave the most per- 
fect satisfaction to the Spanish court, and even procured 
him the particular confidence and attachment of their king. 
From these events, and other untoward circumstances, he 
was, in 1781, recalled, after having contracted a debt of 
near 5000/. in the service of his country, not one shilling 
of which lord North's ministry ever thought proper to re- 
pay him, and to discharge which he was compelled to dis- 
pose of the whole of his hereditary property. If it be said 
that all this rests on Mr. Cumberland's authority, it may 
purely be I'eplied that no member of that ministry has at- 
tempted to deny his account. It has indeed been asserted 
that he exceeded his commission, but in what respects we 
are not told, nor whether the losses he sustained were not 
too heavy a punishment for an error in judgment. He 
informs us that upon his journey home through France, his 
bills were stopped, and his credit so completely bard<rupt, 
that he would have been put in prison at Bayonne, had 
not a friendly fellow-traveller advanced him 500/. which 
enabled him to pay his way through France and reach his 
home. 

Upon Mr. Burke's bill of economy, and the consequent 
dismission of the bo9rd of trade, Mr. Cumberland retired 
with a compensation far from adequate to the emolunients 
of the place he was deprived of, and fixed his abode at 
Tunbridge Wells, having made considerable reductions in 
his establishment. His first publication after his return 
from Spain was his " Anecdotes of eminent Painters in 
Spain," 1782, 2 vols. 12mo, an interesting and curious 
work ; rendered more complete in 1787 by the publication 
of " A Catalogue of the king of Spain's Paintings," which 
had been drawn up purposely for Cumberland's use while 
irt Spain, and transmitted to him after his return to England. 

Before he settled himself at Tunbridge Wells he had 
written his comedy of "The Walloons," which was brought 
out at Covent Garden theatre, and followed by " The 
JVIysterioi^s Husband" in 1783, and u tragedy entitled 



CUMBERLAND. 151 

" The Arab," but which was acted once only for an actor's 
benefit, and has never since been put to any use. 

In 1783 appeared his " Letter to the bishop of Llandafif," 
respecting his proposal for equalizing the revenues of the 
hierarchy and dignitaries of the Church Established ; 
and in 1785 his tragedy of "The Carmelite" was brought 
out; and his comedy of " The Natural Son." The col- 
lection of essays, under the title of " The Observer," were 
also first printed this year experimentally at Tunbridge 
Wells, in 2 vols. 12ino. He afterwards engaged with 
Charles Dilly to publish a new edition, and thereupon 
stopped the impression of the old. The new edition was 
considerably augmented, and appeared in five volumes in 
1786, When this was out of print he made a fresh ar- 
rangement of the essays, and, incorporating his entire 
translation of " The Clouds of Aristophanes," edited the 
work thus modelled in 6 vols. They have since been in- 
corporated in the collection of " The British Essayists." 
In 1785 also appeared the " Character" of his kind patron 
lord Sackville, which he has farther illustrated in his 
*' Memoirs." About this time he published, anonymously, 
a pamphlet entitled " Curtius rescued from the Gulph," 
in consequence, as he says, " of Dr. Parr's having hit an 
unoffending gentleman too hard, by launching a huge 
fragment of Greek at his defenceless head. He made as 
good a fight as he could, and rummaged his indexes for 
quotations, which he crammed into his artillery as thick as 
grape-shot, and in mere sport fired them off against a rock 
invulnerable as the armour of Achilles." It is indeed but 
a very superficial performance. 

In 1789 appeared his comedy of "The Impostor;" and 
"Arundel, a Novel," 2 vdls. 12mo, the latter hastily put 
together in a few weeks at Brighthelmstone, and sent to 
the press in parcels as he wrote it. This novel, rapidly- 
composed as it was, met with success ; on which he re- 
solved to bestow his utmost care and diligence on a second, 
which appeared in 171)5, in 4 vols. 12mo, under the title 
of " Henry." In 1792 he published his " Calvary, or the 
Death of Christ, a Poem, in eight books," 4to. To this 
work he had applied himself with uncommon ardour; he 
began it in the winter, and, rising every morning some 
hours before day-light, soon dispatched the whole poem 
of eight books at the average of full fifty lines a day, of 
which he kept a regular account, marking each day's 



152 CUMBERLAND. 

work upon the MS. This poem has since been repubhshed 
in a more portable size in 2 vols. 

Among his productions of tiie more serious cast may be 
included his " Version of Fifty of the Psalms of David," 
upon which he bestowed great attention : and his religions 
and argumentative tract entitled " A few plain Reasons 
why we should believe in Christ, and adhere to his Reli- 
gion ;" a copy of which he presented, with due deference, 
to the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London, 
the latter of whom honoured him with a very gracious ac- 
knowledgement by letter. He wrote also as many ser- 
UTions as would make a large volume, some of which have 
been delivered from the pulpit ; and was for some years in 
the habit of composing an appropriate prayer of thanks- 
giving for the last day in the year, and of supplication for 
the lirst day of the succeeding year. He was accustomed 
also to select passages from the Old Testament, and turn 
them into verse ; of which he has given a specimen in his 
*' Memoirs." 

In 1793, be brought out a comic opera in three acts, 
founded on the story of Wat Tyler; which, being objected 
to by the lord chamberlain, he was obliged to new-model, 
and produce under the title of " The Armourer." He also 
brought out a comedy under the title of "The Country 
Attorney" at the summer theatre, when it was under the 
direction of the elder Mr. Colman. At the same theatre 
appeared in 1794 his *' Box Lobby Challenge," a co- 
jnedy, and his drama of " Don Pedro." On the opening 
of the new theatre at Drury Lane, his comedy of '' The 
Jew" was represented; which he had composed with great 
rapidity. This was the second instance of his coming for- 
ward to raise the character of that people from the un- 
merited contempt and ridicule which they had uniformly 
before experienced. In the preceding season came out 
his comedy of " The Wheel of Fortune," which was 
closely followed by " First Love, a Comedy." 

In 1796 appeared at Covent Garden his '' Days of Yore, 
a Drama." In 1797, at Drury Lane, "The last of the 
Family, a Comedy." Five other comedies were also suc- 
cessively produced by him. " False Impressions," at Co- 
vent Garden ; " The Word for Nature;" "The Depen- 
dant;" " The Eccentric Lover;" and "The Sailor's Daugh- 
ter," at Drury Lane. 

He made annual visits to Mrs. Bludvvorih's at Holt neav 



CUMBERLAND. 153 

Winchester ; where, being absent from his books, he 
amused himself with poetical trifles on various subjects, 
some of which he has preserved in his Memoirs ; as well as 
many other pieces written on other occasions. In 1806 he 
brought out his " Hint to Husbands, a Comedy," at Co- 
vent Garden, which was pertormed for five nights only. 
In the same year he published '• Memoirs of his own Life," 
4to, to which he afterwards added a Supplement, of which 
we have availed ourselves in this sketch. 

The j)ublications he was afterwards concerned in are, 
*' The Exodiad," an epic poem, written in conjunction 
with sir James Bland Burges. " John de Lancaster," a 
novel, in 3 vols, and " Joanna of Montfaucon," a dramatic 
roiiiance. He was also the conductor of " The London 
Review," a new attempt, in which the reviewers gave 
their names, but it did not succeed. From the time of 
liis secession from public life, Mr. Cumberland resided at 
Tunbridge Wells, devoting his time solely to his literary 
occupations. Here he lost his wife, the happy partner of 
all his joys, his affectionate consoler in every sorrow. This 
stroke of affliction he bore with the resignation of a man 
of sense, convinced, as he says, that patience is no mark 
of insensibility, nor the parade of lamentation any evidence 
of the sincerity or permanency of grief 

During the ahirm of invasion he headed two companies 
of volunteer infantry, and received the commission of 
major-commandant. So beloved was he by his corps, that 
they honoured him with a sword as a mark of their esteem ; 
and at the conclusion of the peace, agreed to serve under 
him without receiving their customary pay. His last days 
were spent chiefly in London, where he died May 7, IMl 1, 
after a few days illness, at the house of his friend, Mr. Henry 
Fry, Bedford-place. The last act of his life was the publica- 
tion of a poem called " Retrospection," a kind of legacy of 
opinions concerning the " men and things" more fully 
handled in his Memoirs. In appreciating the personal 
character of Mr. Cumberland, the reader may be very 
safely directed to these *' Memoirs," where the disguise of 
self-esteem is too thin to hide what is attempted to be 
hidden. It was Mr. Cumberland's misfortune to be bred a 
courtier, and never to have attained his degrees in that 
school. In a subordinate station, the duties of which were 
technical and formal, he performed them like others, but 
was peculiarly unfortunate in venturing to act the minister. 



154 C U M B E R L A N D. 

Mr. Cumherland having associated with ahiiost all the 
ennnent literary characters of his da}', has introduced many 
strikidtr sketches and anecdotes of theui in his " Memoirs." 
In company his aim was to please by retailing these, and 
in the art of pleasing in conversation few men iiave been 
more successful, and few would have been r-:ore praise- 
worthy, had he been more sincere in his c. ^pliraents to 
those who were present, or less bitter in his saxcasnis on 
them after they had taken their leave. By this, however, 
although it occasionally administered to mirth, he lOst more 
than he gained ; and his address, polite, stui led, and 
courtier-like, soon became depreciated beyond all recovery. 

As a writer, the number of his works is perhaps the most 
striking circumstance ; but many of them, it may be re- 
membered, were hastily written, and produced to better 
his income at a time when a succession of statesmen iiad 
agreed to forget that such a man ever held a public station. 
Whatever else he wrote, the drama was his favourite pur- 
suit, from which he could seldom endure a long interrup- 
tion ; and this seems to have created in his mind a ready 
play of imaginaiion which unfitted him for the serious con- 
cerns of real life and business. As a poet, he «annot rank 
very high ; elegant versification and sentiment, however, 
throw a ch.arm over some of his poetical works which has 
ensured them a considerable share of popularity. His 
*' Observer," now that he has acknowledged how much he 
took from Bentley's MSS. no longer supports his character 
as a Greek critic. First or last, the drama was his pecu- 
liar province : it was in that he endeavoured to excel, and 
in that, we think, he has attained the excellence that will 
be most permanent. ^ 

CUMING, or COMYNS (Sir Alexander), bart. a man 
of considerable talents, unhappily, in some respects, mis- 
applied, was the son of Alexander Cuming of Coulter, 
who was created a baronet in \6D5, and was born probably 
about the beginning of the last century. It appears by his 
Journal, which was in the possession of the laie Isaac 
Reed, esq. that he was bred to the law of Scotland, but 
was induced to (|uit that profession in consequence of a 
pension of 300/. per annum being assigned him by govern- 
ment, either, as he intimates, for services 'done by his 
family, or expected from himself This pension was with- 

1 Memoirs, &c. 



CUMING. 155 

drawn in 1721, at the instance, according to his account, 
of sir Robert Walpole, who liad conceived a pique against 
his father, for opposing him in parliament. It is moro 
probable, liowever, that he was found too visionary a 
schemer to fnlfil what was expected from him. In 1729 
he was induced, by a dream of lady Cuming's, to under- 
take a voyage to America, for the purpose of visiting the 
Cherokee nations. He left England on Sept. 13, and ar- 
rived at Charlestown Dec. 5. On March 1 I following, he 
set out for the Indians country; and on April 3, 1730, he 
was crowned commander, and chief ruler of the Cherokee 
nations in a general meeting of chiefs at Nequisee among 
the mountains ; he returned to Charlestown April 13, with 
six Indian chiefs, and on June 5, arrived at Dover. On 
the 18th he presented the chiefs to George II. at Windsor, 
where he laid his crown at his majesty's feet : the chiefs 
also did homage, laying four scalps at the king's feet, to 
show that thev were an overmatch for their enemies, and 
five eagles' tails as emblems of victory. These circum- 
stances are confirmed by the newspapers of that time, 
which are full of the proceedings of the Cherokees whilst 
in England, and speak of them as brought over by sir 
Alexander Cuming. Their portraits were engraved on a 
single sheet. Sir Alexander says in his Journal, that whilst 
he was in America in 1729, he found such injudicious 
notions of liberty prevail, as were inconsistent with any 
kind of government, particularly with their dependence on 
the British nation. This suggested to him the idea of 
establishing banks in each of the provinces dependent on 
the British exchequer, and accountable to the British par- 
liament, as the only means of securing the dependency of 
the colonies. But it was not till 1748 (as it appears) that 
he laid his plans before the minister (the right hon. Henry 
Pelham) who treated him as a visionary enthusiast, which 
his journal indeed most clearly indicates him to have been. 
He connected this scheme with the restoration of the Jew^s, 
for which he supposed the time appointed to be arrived, 
and that he himself was alluded to in various passages of' 
Scripture as their deliverer. He was not, like a late en- 
thusiast, to conduct them to the Holy Land, but proposed 
to take them to the Cherokee mountains : wild as his pro- 
jects were, some of the most learned Jews (among whom 
was Isaac Netto, formerly grand rabbi of the Portuguese 
synagogue) seem to have given him several patient hear- 



156 C U M I N G. 

ings upon the subject. When the minister refused to hs- 
ten to his schemes, he proposed to open a subscription 
himself for 500,000/. to estabJish provincial banks in Ame- 
rica, and to settle 300,000 Jewish families among the Che- 
rokee mountains. From one wild project he proceeded to 
aiiotiier; and being already desperately involved in debt, 
lie turned his thoughts to alchemy, and began to try expe- 
riments on the transmutation of metal. He was supported 
principally by the contributions of his friends : till at 
length, \n \1(>6, archbishop Seeker appointed him one of 
the pensioners in the Charter-house, where he died at a 
very advanced age in August 1775, and was buried at East 
Barnet, where lady Cumu)g had been buried in 1743. He 
appears to have been a man of learning, and to have pos- 
sessed talents, which, if they had not been under a wrong 
bias, might have been beneficial to himself and useful to 
his country. His son, who succeeded him in his title, be- 
came dei"anged in his intellects, and died some years ago, 
in a state of indigence, in the neighbourhood of Red-lion- 
street, Whitechapel. He had been a captsiin in the army : 
the title became extinct at his death. ^ 

CUMING (William), born Sept. 30, 1714, was the 
son of Mr. James Cuming, an eminent merchant in Edin- 
burgh. After a suitable education in the higli-school of 
that city, and under the particular tuition of Mr. Alexander 
Muir, formerly professor of philosophy at Aberdeen, he 
applied himself to the study of physic four years in the 
university of Edinburgh, and became connected with some 
of the most eminent students in that science. In 173 5 he 
spent nine months at Paris, improving himself in anatomy 
and the French language : and he passed some time at 
Leyden the following year; but returned immediately 
before the death of his father*. In 1738 he quitted Edin- 

* An elegant ode, addressed to Iiim wrecked on a rock about two miles east 

on his going to France, Aug. 31, 17jj, of the island of North Ronalsha, the 

by Mr. S. Boyse, is printed in Nichols's northernmost of the Oi kix-y islands. 

Miscellany Poems, vol. VI. p. 342 ; Nov. IS, 1740. Immediately on the 

and ill the same volume, p. 3'28, is the ship's striking, Mr. Cuming went off 

" Vision of Paiieiice," an allegorical in the barge, accompanied by the sur- 

poem, sacred to the memory of Mr. geon, and six of the boldest seamen, 

Alexander Cuming, a young gentle- in order to discover what the island 

man unfortunately lost in the northern was, but were never more heard of. 

ocean, on his return froui China, 1740. Thirty-one of the sailors were saved 

He was elder brother of the doctor, out of one hundred, the ship's ooiJiple- 

and first supercargo of the Suecia, a ment. 
Swedish East India ship, which was 

' For this article we arc entirely indebted to Lysons's Environs, vo|, IV. 



CUMING. 157 

burs^h for London : and while his friends were meditatino- 
a settlement for him at Lynne in the room of the late sir 
William Browne, his friend Dr, Fothergill found out a 
more promising situation at Dorchester -, where he re- 
mained to the last, notwithstanding the most pressing in- 
vitations from Dr. Fothergill to succeed Dr. Russel in Lon- 
don. In the space of a few years after his establishment at 
Dorchester, he came to be employed in many, and in pro- 
cess of time, with an exception (;f three or four at most, in 
all the families of distinction within the county, and fre- 
quently in the adjacent ones. At length his chaste man- 
ners, his learning, and his probity, as they were more ge- 
nerally known, rendered him not only the physician, but 
the confidential friend of some of the best families into 
which he was introduced. His warm and friendly atten- 
tion to the interests of the late Mr. Hutchins, author of 
the History of Dorset, in advancing the publication of that 
well written and well arranged work, cannot better be ex- 
pressed than in the grateful language of its author : " One 
of the gentlemen to whom my acknowledgments are emi- 
nently due, permitted part of that time which is so bene- 
ficially employed to far better purposes, and is so precious 
to a gentleman of his extensive practice, to be diverted to 
the work in hand ; the publication of which he patronised 
and promoted with great zeal and assiduity : nor did his 
success fall short of his zeal. Without his friendly assist- 
ance my papers might yet have remained undelivered to 
the press; or, if they had beencommitted to the public, would 
have wanted several advantages and embellishments with 
which they now appear." The doctor bequeathed his inter- 
leaved copy of this work to Mr.Gough, his friend and coadj utor 
in its publication. In 1752 he received a diploma from the 
university of Edinburgh ; and was soon after elected a fel- 
low of the royal college of physicians there, of which he 
died senior fellow. He was elected in 1769 fellow of the 
society of antiquaries of London; and in 1781 of that of 
Scotland. The tenderness of his eyes was, through life, 
the greatest misfortune he had to struggle with ; and, <:on- 
sidering the many obstacles which the complaints in those 
organs have occasioned in the pursuit of knowledge, it is 
wonderful how he attained the degree of erudition which 
he was well known to possess. In his retreat from the 
more busy pursuits of this world, the surviving companions 
®f his youth continued the friends and correspondents of 



15S C U M I N G. 

his advanced years ; and he enjoyed to the last the singu- 
lar satisfaction of being visited by the most respectable 
persons in the county for probity, rank, and fortune. We 
cannot but regret that the doctor, wlio has been the means 
of so many valuable performances being laid before the 
public, and some of them improved by his pen, had not 
himself stood forth, to give that information for which he 
was so well qualified, both in point of classical learning 
and elegant composition. He died of a dropsy, in the 74th 
year of his age, March 25, 1788.' 

CUNi^US (Peter), a very learned lawyer, and profes- 
sor in the university of Leyden, was born at Flushing, in 
Zealand, 1586. He was sent to Leyden at the age of 
fourteen, where he made great progress in the Greek, 
Latin, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Syriac languages, under 
Drusius ; and, with his assistance, gained a deep know- 
ledge in the Jewish antiquities. In the early part of his 
life he was in England, whither he had attended Ambrose' 
Regemortes, his kinsman ; and during his stay here, he, 
in one summer, accurately read over Homer, and most of 
the Greek poets. It appears that he was at first designed 
for divinity, by his maintaining theological theses under 
Arminius in 1605; but religious disputes running high at 
that time, he conceived a disgust to it, and applied him- 
self to the belles lettres and the law. He was created 
LL. D. at Leyden in 161 !, at which time he was chosen 
professor of eloquence. He was afterwards made professor 
of politics; and in 1615 of civil law, which employment 
he held to his death, which happened in 1638. He was 
the author of several ingenious and learned works ; and his 
little book, " De republica Hebra;orum," which is still held 
in high esteem, was made a text-book by the most cele- 
brated professors. Nicolai, Goree, and Basnage have all 
published editions of it with notes and comments. His 
" Satyra Menippaca in sui sajculi homines inepte eruditos" 
was printed at Leyden in 1632, and as much admired for 
its wit as learning. He likewise published remarks upon 

1 From Memoirs of his Life, at the end of ihr fourth idition of Dr. Lettsom'.< 
Life of Dr. FoUiergill, 1786, 8vo. The Slierboin Mercury of March 31 records 
his death, with this honourable testimony : " He was a physician of learning-, 
strict integrity, and great humanity : possessed of a liappy turn for inquiry and 
observation ; devoted from an early age to the faitlilul disdiarge of the duties of 
his profession. The death of this fxcelicnt man is a mi>fortunc to his friends 
and neighbours more immediately, to the faculty in general, and to all man- 
kind." 



C U N ^ U S. 159 

Nonius's " Dionysiaca," and some inauguration and other 
speeches; with a translation of JuHan's Ciesars. He was 
a man of great parts and learning; and we find Vossius, 
Casaubon, and other great men, speaking of him in the 
highest terms of applause, and paying the profoundest de- 
ference to his judgment. Scahger says, that he was ex- 
tremely learned, but of a melancholy humuur. Burman 
published a volume of his " Epistolae," which contain lite- 
rary information and remarks, Leyden, 1725, 8vo. ' 

CUNITIA, orCUNlTZ (Maria), a lady of great ge- 
nius and learning, was born in Silesia about the beginning 
of the seventeenth century, and became celebrated for her 
extensive knowledge in many branches of learning, parti- 
cularly in mathematics and astronomy, upon which she 
wrote several ingenious treatises; one of which, under the 
title of *' Urania Propitia," printed in 1650, in Latin and 
German, she dedicated to Ferdinand III. emperor of Ger- 
many. In this work are contained astronomical tables, of 
great ease and accuracy, founded upon Kepler's hypothe- 
sis. She learned languages with amazing facility ; and 
understood Polish, German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, 
and Hebrew. With equal ease she acquired a knowledge 
of the sciences: history, physic, poetry, painting, music 
both vocal and instrumental, were familiar to her; and yet 
these were no more than her amusement. Her favourite 
study was the mathematics, and especially astronomy, to 
which she principally applied, and was not without reason 
ranked among the most able astronomers of her time. She 
married Elias de Lewin, M. D. also an astronomer; and 
they carried on their favourite studies for some time with 
equal reputation and success, until the war penetrated into 
Silesia, and obliged them to quit their residence at 
Schweinitz, for Poland, which was then at peace. Upon 
their journey, although furnished with the best passports, 
they were robbed by the soldiers ; but, on their arrival in 
Poland, were welcomed with every kind attention. Hers 
she composed her astronomical tables above noticed, first 
printed at Oels, and four years after at Franeker or Franc- 
fort. Moreri fixes her death at 1664, but others think she 
was living in 1669, and then a widow. ^ 

' Moreri. — Life prefixed to Basnage's " Antiquitez Judaiqnes," Amst. 1713. — 
Freheri Theatrum. — iilouiU's Censura. — Foppen Bib!. Belg. — Saxii Onomast. 
^ 13ibl. Germanique, vol. Ill, — Moreri, — M.utia's Lives of the Philosophers. 



160 CUNNINGHAM. 

CUNNINGHAM (Alexander), an historian, was born 
in Scotland, in the time of Cromwell's usnrpation, in I 6.5 -4-; 
his father was minister at Ettrick, in the shire and presby- 
tery of Selkirk. He was educated, according to the cus- 
tom of the Scotch sentlemen of those times who were of 
the presbyterian sect, in Holland, where we may suppose 
he imbibed his principles of government, and was much 
with the Scotch and English refugees at the Hague before 
the revolution, particularly with the earls of Argyle and 
Sunderland. He came over to England with the prince of 
Orange ; and was honoured with the confidence and inti- 
macy of many leading men among the friends of king 
William and the revolution. We find him employed, at 
different times, in the character of a travelling companion 
or tutor ; first to the earl of Hyndford and his brother Mr, 
William Carmichael, solicitor-general in the reign of queen 
Anne for Scotland ; secondly, with the lord Lome, after- 
wards so well known under the name of John duke of 
Argyle; and thirdly, with the lord viscount Lonsdale. In 
1703 we find him at Hanover with the celebrated Addi- 
son, and graciously received by the elector and princess 
Sophia. 

Lord Lome, at the time he was under the tuition of Mr. 
Cunningham, was colonel of a regiment, which the father 
of the earl of Argyle had raised for his majesty's service in 
Flanders. Mr. Cunningham's connection with the duke of 
Argyle, with whom he had the honour of maintaining an 
intimacy as long as he lived, together with the opportuni- 
ties he enjoyed of learning in his^ travels what may be called 
military geography, naturally tended to qualify him for 
writing intelligibly on military affairs. On this subject 
Achilles, it is probable, communicated information to his 
preceptor Chiron. When we reflect on these circumstan- 
ces, we shall the less wonder that his accounts of battles 
and sieges, and in general of all the operations of war, 
should he so copious, and at the same time so conceivable 
and satisfactory. It is not minatural on this occasion to 
call to mind, that the historian Polybins, so justly re- 
nowned for his knowledge of both civil and military affairs, 
was tutor to Scipio Africanus. 

Mr. Cunningham, both when he travelled with the noble- 
men abovementioned, and on other occasions, was em- 
ployed by the English ministry in transmitting secret in- 
lelligence to them on the most important subjects. He 



CUNNINGHAM. 161 

was also on sundry occasions employed by the generals of 
the confederate armies to carry intelligence and to make 
representations to the court of Britain, In Carstares* 
State papers, published by Dr. Macormick, principal of 
the united college of St. Andrew's, in 1774, there are two 
letters from our author, dated Paris the 2 2d and 26th of 
August 1701, giving an account of his conferences with 
the marquis de Torcy, the French minister, relative to the 
Scotch trade with France. This commercial negotiation, 
from the tenor of Cunningham's letters compared with his 
history, appears to have been only the ostensible object of 
his attention : for he sent an exact account to king Wil- 
liam, with whom he was personally acquainted, of the mi- 
litary preparations throughout all France. 

Mr. Cunningham's political friends, Argyle, Sunder- 
land, sir Robert Walpole, &c. on the accession of 
George I. sent him as British envoy to the republic of 
Venice, where he resided from 1715 to 1720. His cor- 
respondence, or at least part of it (for secretary Craggs 
carried away his official correspondence from the public 
office, and probably, among others, some of Mr. Cun-? 
ningham's letters), with the secretaries of state is preserved, 
in the paper-office. His dispatches have been collected 
and arranged by Mr. Astle, who very obligingly commu- 
nicated this information to the author of the critical and 
biographical memoirs prefixed to the translation of the 
Latin manuscript. 

A question has, no doubt, been anticipated by the reader 
of these memorials of Mr. Cunningham, whether he was not 
the celebrated critic on Horace, and the author of the post- 
humous criticisms in an edition of Virgil published by Ha- 
milton and Balfour of Edinburgh in 1742. On this ques- 
tion, which is, no doubt, not a little interesting to philo- 
logists, but not perhaps so interesting as it would have 
been 50 or 60 years ago, his editor Dr. Thomson has ex- 
hausted not a little reading, inquiry, and probable con- 
jecture, and bestows perhaps more consideration on it than 
the importance of the question deserves. It must be owned, 
at the same time, that the circumstances tending to prove 
the identity of the critic and the historian, and those tend- 
ing to prove their diversity, are so many, and the evidence 
for and against each so nicely balanced, that it becomes a 
question of infinite curiosity on this account, and of im- 
portance too as illustrating the uncertainty of both direct 

Vol. XI. M 



162 CUNNINGHAM. 

and circumstantial evidence. — The historian Alexander 
Cunningham was born in Scotland in the time of Cromwell's 
usurpation ; was educated in Holland, where he was inti- 
mately acq'aainted with many of the Scotch and English 
refugees at the Hague, and particularly with the earls of 
Argyle and Sunderland : he enjoyed, in an eminent de- 
gree, the favour and familiarit}' of the great : he travelled 
with the duke of Argyle : he was distinguished by his skill 
in the game of chess : he was in politics a whig ; and he 
lived to extreme old age. Now there is very strong evi- 
dence that all these circumstances belong to the life, 
imd point to Alexander Cunningham, the editor and com- 
ftientator of Horace. It would seem strange indeed, if 
two Alexander Cunninghams, countrymen, contemporaries, 
so distinguished for erudition and the familiarity and favour 
of men of rank and power, and the same men too, should 
have flourished at the same sera, in modes of life, in places 
of residence, in peculiarities of character, and other cir- 
cumstances so nearly parallel. And yet, notwithstanding 
these accumulated coincidences, there are circumstances 
too of diversity and opposition that seem incompatible with 
their identity ; and therefore Dr. Thomson, after all his 
inquiries concerning the identity or the diversity of the 
historian and the critic, on that subject remains sceptical ; 
and from those curious points of coincidence and opposi- 
tion draws the following pertinent inference : " If the 
writings of our author have increased the stores of history, 
the incidents of his life, by shewing the uncertainty of 
oral tradition, have illustrated its importance." 

He lived many years after his return from Venice, which 
he seems chiefly to have passed in a studious retirement. 
In 1735 he was visited in London by lord Hyndford, at the 
Instance of his lordship's father, to whom he had been 
tutor; when he appeared to be very old. It is probable 
that he lived about two years after; for the body of an 
Alexander Cunningham lies interred in the vicar chancel of 
St. Martin's church, who died in the 83d year of his age, 
on the 15th day of May 1737 ; and who was probably the 
same person. 

His History of Great Britain, from the revolution in 
1688 to the accession of George I. was published in 
two vols. 4to, in 1787. It was written by Mr. Cunning- 
ham in Latin, but was translated into English by the rev. 
'I>r. William- Thomson. The original manuscript came 
into the possession of the rev. Dr. Hollingberry, archdea- 



CUNNINGHAM. 163 

con of Chichester, soine of whose relations had been con- 
nected with the author. He communicated it to the late 
earl of Hardwicke, and to Dr. Douglas, the late bishop of 
Salisbury, both of whom recommended the publication. 
In a short preface to the work, the archdeacon says: " My 
first design was to have produced it in the original ; but, 
knowing how few are sufficiently learned to understand, 
and how many are indisposed to read two quarto volumes in 
Latin, however interesting and entertaining the subject 
may be, I altered my purpose, and intended to have sent 
it into the world in a translation. A nervous fever de- 
priving me of the power, defeated the scheme." Accord- 
ingly, he afterwards transferred the undertaking to Dr. 
Thomson ; and, we are told by Dr. Holiingberry that this 
gentlemfin " has expressed the sense of the author with 
fidelity." The work was undoubtedly well deserving ot 
publication. It contains the history of a very interesting 
period, written by a man who had a considerable degree 
of authentic information, and his book contains many cu- 
rious particulars not to be found in other histories. His 
characters are often drawn with judgment and impartiality : 
at other times they are somewhat tinctured with prejudice. 
This is particularly the case with respect to general Stan- 
hope and bishop Burnet, against whom he appears to have 
conceived a stroiig personal dislike. He sometimes also 
indulges himself in severe sarcasms on the clergy, and on 
the female sex. But he was manifestly a very attentive 
observer of the transactions of his own time ; his works 
abound in just political remarks; and the facts which he 
relates are exhibited with great perspicuity, and often 
with much animation. Throughout his book he frequently 
intersperses some account of the literature and of the most 
eminent persons of the age concerning which he writes ; 
and he has also adorned his work with many allusions to 
the classics and to ancient history 

The compilers of the EncyclopcBTjia Britannica thus con- 
clude their article on this subject; " Alexander Cunning- 
ham, the author of the History of Great Britain, has been 
supposed to be the same person with Alexander Cunning- 
ham who published an edition of Horace at the Hague, in 
2 vols. 8vo. 1721, which is hiiihly esteemed. But, from 
the best information we have been able to collect, they 
were certainly different persons ; though they were both 
of the same name, lived at the same time, had boik^ been 

M 2 



164 CUNNINGHAM. 

travelling tutors, were both said to have been eminent for 
their skill at the game of chess, and both lived to a very 
advanced age. The editor of Horace is generally said to 
have died in Holland, where he taught both the civil and 
canon laws, and where he had collected a very large library, 
which was sold in that country." That these remarks are 
just has been since placed beyond a doubt by a writer, 
under the signature of Crito, in the Scots Magazine for 
October 1804, who proves that the editor of Horace died 
at the Hague in 1730, and the historian at London in 
1737.' 

CUNNINGHAM (John), a poet of considerable repu- 
tation, was born in 1729 in Dublin, where his father and. 
mother, both descendants of Scotch parents, then resided. 
His father was a wine cooper, and becoming enriched by a' 
prize in the lottery, commenced wine-merchant, and 
failed. The little education our author received was from 
a Mr. Clark, who was master of the grammar-school of the 
city of Drogheda ; and when his father's affairs became 
embarrassed, he was recalled to Dublin, where he pro- 
duced many of his lesser poems at a very early age. At 
seventeen he wrote a farce, entitled " Love in a Mist,** 
which was acted for several nif^hts at Dublin in 1747. Gar- 
rick is said to have been indebted to this farce for the fable 
or plot of his *' Lying Valet." The success of his little 
drama procured him the freedom of the theatre, to which 
he became immoderately attached, and mistaking inclina- 
tion for ability, commenced actor without one essential 
qualification either natural or acquired, if we except a 
knack at personating the mock French character, in which 
he is said to have been tolerable. His passion for the 
stage, however, predominated so strongly, that without 
any intimation of his intentions, he left his family and 
embarked for England, where he obtained a precarious 
and unprofitable employment in various companies of 
strolling comedians. Frequent want made him at length 
sensible of his imprudence, but pride prevented his return 
to his friends; and the death of his father in circumstances 
of distress, probably reconciled him to a way of life which 
he could not now exchange for a better. About the year 
1761 we find him a performer at Edinburgh, where he 
published his " Elegy on a Pile of Ruins," which, although 

' Biog. Brit. — Tytler'g Life of Lord Kanie3.-»-EncycIop3Edia Britannica. 



CUNNINGHA M. 165 

obviously an imitation of Gray's Elegy, contains many 
passages conceived in the true spirit of poetry, and ob- 
tained considerable reputation. During liis theatrical en- 
gagement at Edinburgh, although insignificant as an actor, 
he was of some value to the manager, by furnishing pro- 
logues and other occasional addresses, which were much 
applauded- 

About this time he received an invitation from certain 
booksellers in London, who proposed to engage him in 
such works of literature as might procure him a more easy 
and honourable employment than he had hitherto followed. 
He repaired accordingly to the metropolis, but was disap- 
. pointed in the promised undertaking by the bankruptcy of 
the principal person concerned in it, and after a short 
. sta}', was glad to return to his friends in the north. This 
was the only effort he ever made to emerge from the ab- 
ject situation in which youthful imprudence had originally 
placed him, and contented indolence possessed him so en- 
tirely, that he never made a second attempt. In a letter 
to a friend he describes himself in these terms : " You may. 
remember ray last expedition to London. I think I may 
be convinced by it, that I am not calculated for the busi- 
ness you mention. Though I scribble (but a little neither) 
to amuse myself, the moment I considered it as my duty, it 
would cease to be an amusement, and I should of conse- 
quence be weary on't. I am not enterprizing ; and tole- 
ably happy in my present situation." 

In 1762 he published "The Contemplatist," but with 
less success than his Elegy. This is indeed the worst of 
all his productions, and was censured with much force of 
ridicule by a writer in the Monthly Review. It abounds 
with glittering and absurd conceits, and had it been pub- 
lished now, might have been mistaken for a satire on the 
maukish, namby-pamby stuff which the author of the 
Baviad and Maiviad has chastised with equal justice and 
humour. It may here be mentioned that in 1765 he pub- 
lished " Fortune, an Apologue," in which there are some 
poetical beauties, particularly the description of avarice, 
but not much consistency of plan ; and in the following 
year collected his poems into a volume, which was ho- 
noured by a numerous list of subscribers. 

For some time, he was a performer in Mr. Digges's 
company at Edinburgh, and on that gentleman's quitting 
Scotland, returned to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a spot which 



1(56 CUNNINGHAM. 

had been his residence for many years, and which he con'« 
sidered as his home. Here aiid in the neighbouring towns 
he earned a scanty subsistence. Although his mode of life 
was not of the reputable kind, his blameless and obliging 
conduct procured him many friends, and in their society 
hte passed his days without any effort to improve his situa- 
tion. Yet in the verses he wrote about three weeks before 
he died, it appears that he was not quite so contented as 
his biographer has represented. A few months before that 
event, being incapable of any theatrical exertion, he was re- 
moved to the house of his friend, Mr. Slack of Newcastle, 
who with great kindness received him under his roof, and 
paid every attention to him which his state required. After 
lino-erinjr some time under a nervous disorder, during: 
xvhich he burnt all his papers, he died on the 18th of Sep- 
tember, 1773, and was buried in St. John's church-yard, 
Newcastle. 

Although Cunningham cannot be admitted to a very 
high rank among poets, he may be allowed to possess a 
considerable share of genius. His poems have a peculiar 
svveetness and elegance ; his sentiments are generally na- 
tural, and his language simple, and appropriate to his sub- 
ject, except in some of his longer pieces, where he accu- 
mulates epithets that appear to be laboured, and are some- 
times uncouth compounds, either obsolete or unauthorized. 
As he contemplated nature with a fond and minute atten- 
tion, and had familiarized his mind to rural scenes and 
images, his pastorals will probably continue to be his most 
favoured efforts. He has in formed us that Shenstone, with 
whose correspondence he was honoured, encouraged him 
to cultivate this species of poetry. His "Landscape" is a 
cluster of beauties which every reader must feel, but such as 
only a very accurate observer of nature could have grouped 
with equal effect. His fables are ingenious, and his lyric 
pieces were at one time in very high estimation, and cer- 
tamly cannot suffer by a comparison with their successors 
on the stage and public gardens ; and, upon the whole, 
his works have lost little of the popularity with which they 
T^ere origitially favoured. ' -'' 

CUNINGHAM (William), was a physician in Lon- 
don, who resided in Coleman-street some years of his life. 

I Johnson <ind Chalmers's English Poets, IS}0. — The first account of Cua^ 
nin;^baat appeared in the Lond. Mag. 1773, p. 493. 



C U N I N G H A M. 1^7 

About 1556 — 1559 he lived at Norwich, and in 1563 he 
was a public lecturer in surgeons'-hall, London. Bishop 
Bull applauded him much for his knowledge in astronomy 
and physic. lie was certainly a man of considerable 
learning, and much admired for his ingenuity in the art 
of engraving on copper. In 1559 he published his '* Cosr 
mographical Glass, conteyning the pleasant principles of 
Cosmographie, Geographic, Hydrographie, or Naviga- 
tion," fol. He executed several of the cuts in this book 
himself. The map of Norwich, Mr. Granger thinks, i$ 
curious and fine. He wrote also a Commentary on Hip- 
pocrates, " De Aere, Aquis et Regionibus," and a " Trea- 
tise on the French Disease." ' 

CUPER, orCUPERUS (Gisbeut), a learned philologist, 
was born Sept. 14, 1614, at Hemmem, in the duchy of 
Guelderland, and educated first at home, and then at 
Nimegueu, where after attending a course of rhetoric, 
philosophy', mathematics, history, law, and theology, he 
found his inclination drawing him more closely to matters 
of taste and polite literature. With a view to further im- 
l^rovement in these branches, he went to Leyden, and put 
himself for some time under the direction of the elder 
Gronovius. He came afterwards to Paris, and while he 
was about to leave that city for Italy, he was appointed 
professor of history at Deventer, when he was only in his 
•wen ty- fifth year. The reputation he acquired in this 
office, raised him to the magistracy, and he was employed 
by the states of Overyssel in various important transactions. 
Having carried on a correspondence with some distinguished 
members of the French academy of inscriptions, he was 
chosen an honorary member. He died at Deventer, 
Nov. 22, 1716, in the seventy-third year of his age. His 
works are: 1. " Observationum Libri III." on different 
Greek and Latin authors," Utrecht, 1670, 8vo. 2. " Har- 
pocrates, et Monumenta antiqua inedita," Utrecht, 1676, 
li87, and 1694, 4to. 3. An additional book or volume of 
observations on the Greek and Latin authors, Deventer, 
1678, 8vo. 4. " Apotheosis, vei consecratio Homeri," 
Amst. 1683, 4to. 5. *' Historia trium Gordianum," De- 
venter, 1697, 12mo; and ibid. 1697, 8vo. 6. " Lettres 
de critique, d'histoire, de iitterature, &c." Amst. 1742, 
4to. He also wrote a preface and notes to the edition of 

' Tanner.— Granger.— Aikin's Biog. Memoirs of Medicine. 



168 C U P E R. 

Lactantius " de movtibus persecutorum," Abo, 1684, and 
Utrecht, 1692. His correspondence with the literary men 
of his age was very extensive, and many of his letters 
have been published in various collections ; particularly in 
** Celeberrimorum virorum epistolae," Wittemberg, 1716, 
8vo, in " Schelhornii Amcenitates," Leipsic, 1738, 8vo ; 
in Burman's Sylloge;" in the " Sylloge nova Epistolarum," 
Nuremberg, 1759, 8vo ; and lastly, by Betou, in his work 
*' De Aris et Lapidibus Votivis ad Neomagum et Sanctenum 
effosis," Neomag. 1783, 8vo.* 
• CURCELLEUS. See COURCELLES. 

CURIO (CcELius Secundus), of Pi6mont, was born at 
San Chirico, in 1503, of a noble family, and cultivated 
philosophy, and made several journies in Germany and 
Italy. Having abjured the religion of Rome to embrace 
the doctrines of Luther, he was thrown into prison, and 
confined for several months, but without this making any 
impression on his sentiments; and he was no sooner re- 
leased than he played a very bold trick. Having access to 
the relics of the monastery of St. Benigno, he executed 
the plan of carrying away the holy shrine, and leaving in 
its place what to Ijim was more holy and estimable, the 
Bible, inscribed with these words, " Haec est area foe- 
deris, ex qua vera sciscitari oracula liceat, et in qua veroe 
sunt sanctorum reliquiae." As, however, he was aware 
the fury of the populace would not permit him to escape 
with his life, if he were suspected, he thought it prudent to 
retire, and we find him afterwards at Milan, where he 
married in 1530, and began to preach. Having fixed his 
abode near Casal, he one day heard a Dominican de- 
claiming loudly against Luther, and charging him with 
criminal acts and heretical notions, of which he was not 
guilty; he asked permission to give an answer to the out- 
rageous preacher. This being granted : " My father," 
said he to the monk, " you have attributed to Luther a 
nimiber of terrible declarations; but where does he say 
them ? Can you point me out the book where he has de- 
livered such a doctrine ?" — The monk replied that he could 
not immediately shew him the passage ; but that, if he 
would go with him to Turin, he would point it out to 
him. — " And I," said Curio, " will shew you this moment 
that what you advance cannot be true." Then pulling out 

1 Moreri.r— Saxii Onomasticon. 



CURIO. 169 

of his pocket Luther's Commentary on the epistle to the 
Galatians, he refuted the Dominican with so much strensrth 
of argument, that the crowd fell upon him, and it was 
with great difficulty that he escaped out of their hands. 
The inquisition and the bishop of Turin being informed of 
this quarrel, Curio was arrested ; but the bishop, perceiving 
that he was supported by a considerable party, went to 
Rome, to receive advice from the pope in what maimer he 
should proceed. In the mean time, Curio was carried in 
irons to a private prison, and kept under a constant guard ; 
but, notwithstanding these precautions, found means to 
escape during the night. He fled to Salo, in the duchy 
of Milan, and from thence to Pavia ; whence, three years 
afterwards, he was obliged to take refuge at Venice, be- 
cause the pope had threatened to excommunicate the se- 
nate of Pavia, if they did not put him under an arrest. 
From Venice Curio went successively to Ferrara, to Lucca, 
to Lausanne, in Switzerland, where he was made principal 
of the college, and lastly to Bale, in 1547. Here he be- 
came professor of eloquence and the belles-lettres, which 
situation he held until his death, which happened in 1569, 
at the age of sixty-seven. There is a singular work by 
him, entitled *' De amplitudine beati regni Dei," Bale, 
1550, 8vo, in which he extends that kingdom to the com- 
prehension of a far greater number of elect than the ge- 
nerality of divines allow. He also wrote : 1. " Opus- 
cula," Bale, 1544, 8vo, scarce, and containing a disser- 
tation on Providence, another on the Immortality of the 
Soul, &c. 2. " Letters," Bale, 1553, 8vo. 3. " Cal- 
vinus Judaisans," 1595, Svo. 4. To him are attributed : 
" PasquiUorum tomi duo," 1544, 2 parts in 1 vol. Svo. 
What has led -the critics to think him the editor of this 
collection, is, that he is indeed the author of the two edi- 
tions of " Pasquillus extaticus," 8vo, the one without 
date, the other of Geneva, 1544. The second was re- 
printed with " Pasquillus theologaster," Geneva, 1C67, 
12mo. TlkCse are satires, which petulance on one side, 
and the desire of suppressing them on the other, have oc- 
casioned to be sought after. The book-collectors add to 
these, two volumes, the works of a certain German, named 
" Pasquillus merus." This makes a third volume, which 
has scarcely any relation to the former, nor is either of 
much value. 5. A Latin translation of Guicciardini's his^ 
tory, 1566, 2 vols. fol. 6. <' De Bello Melitense, anng 



170 CURIO. 

1565," 8vo, inserted in Muratori. 7. " Vita et doctrina 
Davidis Georgii haeresiarchac," Bale, 1599, 4to. 8. " Fo- 
rurn Romanum," a Latin dictionary, Bale, 1576, 3 vols. 
fol. 9. " Historia Francisci Spirse," 8vo, &c. Of a very- 
scarce work of his, *' Paraphrasis in principium Evangelii 
S. Johannis," but which, if we mistake not, was originally 
published among his " Opuscula," an extract may be seen 
in the " New Memoirs of Literature," vol, XIIL' 

CUROPALATES. See SCYLITZES. 

CURRIE (James), M. D. an eminent physician of Li- 
verpool, was born at Kirkpatrick-Flemming, in Dumfries- 
shire, on May 31st, 1756, where his father was the es- 
tablished minister, but afterwards removed to that of 
Middlebie. He received the rudiments of learning at the 
parish school of his native place, whence be was removed 
to the grammar-school of Dumfries. His original desti- 
nation was for a commercial life, and he passed some years 
of his youth in Virginia, in a mercantile station. Disliking 
this profession, and unwilling to be a witness of the im- 
pending troubles in the American colonies, he quitted that 
country in 1776, and in the following year commenced a 
course of naedical study at the university of Edinburgh, 
which occupied him almost without interruption for three 
years. A prospect of an appointment in the medical staff 
of the army, which would not admit of the usual delay of 
an Edinburgh graduation, induced him to take the degree 
of doctor of pb«ysic at Glasgow. He arrived, however, in 
London, too late for the expected place ; but still deter- 
mining to go abroad, he had taken his pas-^age in a ship 
for Jamaica, when a severe indisposition prevented his 
sailing, and entirely changed his lot in life. He renounced 
his first intention ; and, after some consideration respecting 
an eligible settlement, he fixed upon the commercial and 
rapidly-increasing town of Liverpool, which became his 
residence from 1781, and where he soon rose into general 
•steem. Indeed, it was not possible, even upon a casual 
acquaintance, for a judge of mankind to fail of being struck 
by his manly urbanity of behaviour, by the elegance and 
variety of his conversation, by the solid sense and sagacity 
of his remarks, and by the tokens of a feeling heart, which 
graced and dignified the qualities of his understanding. 
No man was ever more highly regarded by his friends ; no 

> Niceron. — Frehcri Theainnn. — Moreri. — Saxii Onomast. But fer his publi- 
cations, Clement liibl. Curieuse. 



C U R R I E» 17t 

pliysician ever inspired more confidence and attachment ia 
his patients. 

In 1783, Dr. Currie made a very desirable matrimonial 
connection with Lucy, the daughter of William Wallace, 
esq. an Irish merchant in Liverpool. Of this marriage, a 
numerous and amiable family was the fruit, by which his 
name promises to be worthily perpetuated. His profes- 
sional employment rapidly increased ; he was elected one 
of the physicians of the infirmary, and took his station 
among the distinguished characters of the place of his re- 
sidence. 

His first appearance from the press was on occasion of 
the lamented death of his intimate friend Dr. Bell, a 
young physician of great hopes, settled at Manchester. 
His elegant and interesting tribute to the memory of 
this person was published in 1785, in the first volume 
of the Transactions of the Manchester Philosophical 
and Literary Society, of which they were both members. 
He was elected a member of the London Medical Society 
in 1790, and communicated to it a paper " On Te- 
tanus and Convulsive Disorders," published in the third 
volume of its memoirs. In 1792 he became a fellow of 
the Royal Society. A very curious and instructive " Ac-* 
count of the remarkable effects of a shipwreck," commu- 
nicated by him to that body, was published in the Philo- 
sophical Transactions of that year. Soon after this, having 
with many other men of political study, viewed the war with 
France consequent to its great revolutionary struggle with 
disapprobation, with respect as well to its principles, as to 
its probable effect on the happiness of both countries, he 
wrote a pamphlet. This appeared in 1793, under the title 
of " A Letter Commercial and Political, addressed to the 
right hon. William Pitt; by Jasper Wilson, esq.;" it soon 
attained a second edition, and various answers attested the 
degree of importance attached to it in the public estima- 
tion. In the mean time, he was far from being neglectful 
of the duties of his profession. To those who employed 
him he was abundantly known as a skilful and sedulous 
practitioner ; and the medical papers he had already pub- 
lished gave him reputation among his brethren. This re- 
putation was widely extended and raised to an eminent, 
degree by a publication which first appeared in October 
1797, entitled " Medical Reports on the Efltects of Water 
Cold and Warm, as a Remedy in Febrde Diseases ; with 
observations on the nature of Fever, and on the effects of 



172 C U R R I E. 

opium, alcohol, and inanition." The practice of affusion 
of cold water in fevers, which is the leading topic in this 
work, was suggested to the author by Dr. Wright's narra- 
tive, in the London Medical Journal, of his successful 
treatment of a fever in a homeward-bound ship from Ja- 
maica. Dr. Currie copied and greatly extended it, and 
investigated the principles by which its use should be di- 
rected and regulated. He discovered that the safety and 
advantage of the application of cold was proportionate to 
the existing augmentation of the animal heat ; and he found 
the thermometer a very valuable instrument to direct the 
practitioner's judgment in febrile cases. He may there- 
fore be considered as the principal author of a practice 
■which has already been attended with extraordinary suc- 
cess in numerous instances, and bids fair to prove one of 
the greatest medical improvements in modern times. The 
work, which contained many ingenious speculations and 
valuable observations, was generally read and admired. A 
new volume was added to it in 1804, consisting of much 
interesting matter on different topics, especially in con- 
firmation of the doctrine and practice of the former volume 
respecting cold affusion. The free and successful employ- 
ment of this remedy in the scarlatina, was one of its most 
important articles. The author had the satisfaction of re- 
ceiving numerous acknowledgments of the benefit derived 
from his instructions, both in private and in naval and mi- 
litary practice. He himself was so much convinced of the 
utility of the methods he reconm:iended, that a revision of 
the whole work for a new edition, was one of the latest la- 
bours of his life. 

Dr. Currie might now, without danger to his profes- 
sional character, indulge his inclination for the ornauiental 
parts of literature ; and an occasion offered in which he 
had the happiness of rendering his taste and his benevo- 
lence equally conspicuous. On a visit to his native county, 
in 1792, he hiKJ become personally acquainted with that 
rustic son of genius, Robert Burns. "^I'his extraordinary, 
hut unfortunate man, having at his death Left his family in 
great indigence, a subscription was made in Scotland for 
their immediate relief, and at the same time a design was 
formed, of publishing an edition of his printed works and 
remains for their emolument. Mr. Syme, of Ryedale, ;m 
old and intimate friend of Dr. Currie, strongly urged him 
to undertake the office of editor ; and to this request, in 
which other friends of the poet's memory concurred, he 



C U R R I E. 173 

could not withhold his acquiescence, notwithstanding ViLs 
multiplied engagements, lu 1800 he published in 4 vols. 
8vo, *' The Works of Robert Burns, with an account of 
his Life, and a criticism on his Writings : to which are 
prefixed, some Observations on the Character and Con- 
dition of the Scottish Peasantry." These volumes were a 
rich treat to the lovers of poetry and elegant literature ; 
and Dr. Currie's part in them, as a biographer and critic, 
was greatly admired, as well for beauty of style, as for li- 
berality of sentiment and sagacity of remark. If any ob- 
jection was made to him as an editor, on account of unne- 
cessary extension of the materials, the kind purpose for 
which the publication was undertaken, pleaded his excuse 
with all who were capable of feeling its force. Its success 
fully equalled the most sanguine expectations. 

Though externally of a vigorous frame of bod}', Dr. 
Currie had a pre-disposition to those complaints which 
usually shorten life; and in 1784 he had experienced a 
pulmonary attack of an alarming nature, from which he 
was extraordinarily recovered by the use of horse-exercise, 
^s related by himself in his case, inserted in the second 
volume of Dr. Darwin's " Zoonomia." He was, however, 
seldom long free from threatenings of a return, and his 
health began visibly to decline in the early part of 1804. 
In the summer of that year he took a journey to Scotland, 
wiiere, among other sources of gratification, he had that 
of witnessing- the happy effects of his kindness on the fa- 
mily of Burns. His letters on this occasion were delight- 
ful displays of benevolence rejoicing in its work. He re- 
turned with some temporary amendment; but alarming 
symptoms soon returned, and in November he found it ne- 
cessary to quit the climate and business of Liverpool. He 
spent the winter alternately at Clifton and Bath ; and in 
the month of March appeared to himself in a state of con- 
valescence, which justified his taking a house in Bath, and 
commencing the practice of his profession. From the 
manner in which his career opened, there could be no doubt 
that it would have proved eminently successful ; but the 
concluding scene was hastily approaching. As a last re- 
source, he went in August to Sidmouth, where, after much 
suffering, which he bore with manly fortitude and pious 
resignation, he expired on August 31st, 1805, in the 
fiftieth year of his age. His disease was ascertained to be 
a great enlargement and flaccidity of the heart, accompa- 



174 C U R R I E. 

Tiied with remarkable wasting of the left lung, but without 
ulceration, tubercle, or abscess. 

Few men have left the world with a more amiable and 
estimable character, proved in every relation of life, public 
and domestic. In his professional conduct he was upright, 
liberal, and honourable ; with much sensibility for his pa- 
tients, without the affectation of it ; fair and candid towards 
his brethren of the faculty ; and though usually decided 
in his opinion, yet entirely free from arrogance or dog- 
matism. His behaviour was singularly calculated to con- 
vert rivals into friends ; and some of those who regarded 
him with the greatest esteem and affection, have been the 
persons who divided practice with him. His powers of 
mind were of the highest rank, equally fitted for action 
and speculation ; his morals were pure, his principles 
exalted. His life, though much too short to satisfy the 
■wishes of his friends and family, was long enough for signal 
usefulness and for lasting fame.' 

CURTIS (William), an eminent botanist, was born at 
Alton, in Hampshire, in 1746. At the age of fourteen he 
was bound apprentice to his grandfather, an apothecary at 
Alton, and appears to have first acquired a particular taste 
for botany, from an acquaintance in humble life, the ostler 
of an adjoining inn, who had studied some of the popular 
Herbals. Some more systematic works falling in his way 
soon after, instilled into his apt and ardent mind, principles 
of method, and of Linnajan philosophy, which neither his 
original preceptor, nor the books he studied, could ever 
have taught. At the age of twenty, Mr. Curtis came to 
London, in order to finish his medical education, and to 
seek an establishment in the profession to which he was 
destined. He was associated with a Mr. Talwin of Grace- 
church-street, to whose business he at lenoth succeeded : 
but not without having from time to time received many 
reproofs and warnings, respecting the interference of his 
botanical pursuits with the more obviously advantageous 
ones of his profession. Nor were these warnings without 
cause. The street-walking duties of a city practitioner 
but ill accorded with the wild excursions of a naturalist; 
the apothecary was soon swallowed up in the botanist, and 
the shop exchanged for a garden. Mr. Curtis, therefore, 
became a lecturer on the principles of natural science, and 

* From a Sketch drawn up by Dr. Aikin, inserted ia the literary journals. 



CURTIS. !75 

a demonstrator of practical botany. His pupils frequented 
his garden, studied in liis library, and followed him into 
the fields in his herborizincr excursions. His first garden 
was situated at Bermondsey ; afterwards he occupied a 
more extensive one at Lambeth Marsh, which he finally 
exchanged for a more salubrious and commodious spot at 
Brompton. This last garden he continued to cultivate till 
his death. 

Mr. Curtis was very early led to combine the study of 
insects and their metamorphoses with that of plants, and 
his various gardens were furnished with accommodations 
tor this pursuit. Hence he became an author ; his first 
publication being a pamphlet, entitled " Instructions for 
collecting and preserving Insects ; particularly Moths and 
Butterflies, illustrated with a copper plate," printed in 1771. 
In the following year he published a translation of the 
*' Fundamenta Entomolooise" of Linnaeus, entitled " An 
Introduction to the Knowledge of Insects," many valuable 
additions being subjoined to the original treatise. These 
two pamphlets have contributed more than any similar works, 
to diffuse a knowledge of scientific entomology in En£:land, 
and to engraft on the illiterate illiberal stock of mere collec- 
tors, a race of enlightened and communicative observers of 
nature; who no longer hoard up unique sjjecimens, and sel- 
fish acquisitions, but contribute their discoveries and their 
experience for the benefit of the agriculturist, the manu- 
facturer, or the physician. 

The celebrity which these publications procured for their 
author, was soon altogether eclipsed by what arose from 
his botanical labours, which have placed him in the very 
first rank of English writers in that department of science. 
In 1777 appeared the first number of his " Flora Londi- 
uensis," containing six folio plates, with a page or more 
lof letter-press, consisting of a description in Latin and 
English, with synonyms of each plant, and copious remarks 
on its history, uses, qualities, and the insects it nourishes. 
Each number was sold at half a crown plain, five shillings 
coloured ; and some copie?, finished with extraordinary 
care, were sold at seven shillings and six-pence. The 
iirst artist employed in making the drawings for this work, 
was Mr. Kilburn, who used a camera obscura for the pur- 
pose ; his sketches were shaded with Indian ink, before 
the colours were laid on. The performances of this artist 
have not been excelled in any similar work. When from 



17-S CURTIS. 

other engagements, Mr. Kilbiirn was obliged to relinquish 
his task, Mr. Sowerby was employed, and maintained undi- 
minished the perfection of the figures. After him, Mr. 
Sydenham Edwards was engaged by Mr. Curtis, with no 
less credit, both in this publication and the " Botanical Ma- 
gazine" hereafter mentioned. Of the plates of the " Flora 
Londinensis" too much cannot be said ; their beauty and 
botanical accurac}- are alike eminent, and it is only to be 
regretted that the manufactory of paper, as well as the ty- 
pographical art, were in so degraded a state when this 
book first appeared. For this its author cannot be respon- 
sible, nor are these defects of any moment in the eyes of 
learned or scientific readers, to whom the work in ques- 
tion, independent of its excellent figures, ranks ne.xt to 
Ray's Synopsis, in original merit and authority upon 
Enghsh plants. It may be added, that the works of Curtis 
have tended, more than any other publications of their day, 
to give that tone of urbanity and liberality to the science, 
which every subsequent writer of good character has ob- 
served. Wherever their author swerved in any degree 
from this candour, which was very seldom, and not per- 
haps without provocation, it was always to his own loss ; 
and he was thus led into some of the very few mistakes 
tiiat he has committed. 

The *' Fl-ora Londinensis" was extended to six fasciculi^ 
of seventy-two plates each, and ten years after the begin- 
ning of it, Mr. Curtis undertook a new publication, the 
*' Botanical Magazine," a work whose, sale has been ex- 
tensive beyond all former example, and which is in every 
respect worthy of its author. No book has more diffused 
a taste for unsophisticated nature and science. It rewarded 
its contriver with pecuniary emolument as well as with 
merited celebrity, and is still continued with unabated utility. 
It is designed to be a general repository of garden plants, 
whether [)reviously figured or not in other works, but it 
has often had the advantage of giving entire novelties to 
the public. 

In 1782, Mr. Curtis published a history of the brown- 
tailed moth, an insect confounded by Linnicus under his 
Phalaena Chrysorrhoea. Tlie design of this pamphlet was 
to allay the alarm which had been excited in the country 
round the metropolis, by an extraordinary abundance of 
the caterpillars of this moth, and which svas so great, that 



CURTIS. 177 

the parish officers oflered rewards for collecting these cater- 
pillars, and attended in form to see them burnt by bushels at 
a time. It was one of those popular alarms which every now 
and then arise amonsc the ignorant multitude, and which 
vanish before the first ray of common sense. When the 
natural liistory of the insect was inquired into, and com- 
pared with that of otiiers, no cause for any great appre- 
hension could be discerned ; and indeed the subsequent 
years were not more abundant in this species than usual. 

Besides the above works, Mr. Curtis published " Prac- 
tical Observations on the British Grasses," in 8vo; his 
truly praise-worthy aim being to direct the farmer to a 
knowledge and discrimination of the species and their qua- 
lities. He also from time to time printed catalogues of 
his garden. He was induced, by the unfortunate alarnn. 
which he conceived at the publication of" English Botany,'* 
an apparently rival work, to put forth diminished figures 
in 8vo, of his great Flora ; but these met with no appro- 
bation nor success, and were soon discontinued. His 
*' Lectures on Botany," rendered needlessly expensive by 
superfluous coloured plates, have appeared since his death; 
but for this publication he is not responsible. Two admi- 
rable entomological papers of Mr. Curtis are found in the 
" Transactions of the Linnean Society •" of which society 
he was one of the original fellows. The first of these is an 
account of the Silpha Grisea, and Curculio Lapathi, two 
coleopterous insects very destructive to willows. The 
other paper is intended to shew that the Aphides, or lice 
of plants, are " the sole cause of the honev-dew," a new 
theory on the subject, and perfectly just, as far as con- 
cerns the most common kind of honey-dew. This paper 
was digested by the president from the unfinished materials 
of- its author, and communicated to the society after his 
death, which happened on the 7th of July, 1799, after he 
had for near a twelvemonth laboured under a disease in the 
chest, supposed to be of a dropsical n.'.ture ; but which 
was rather, perhaps, an organic aHection of the heart, or 
of the great vessels immediately connected with it. His 
remains were interred at Battersea church. He left be- 
hind him the character of an honest friendly man, a lively 
and entertaining companion, and a good master. He was 
ever I'eady to encouage and assist beginnet^j in his fa- 
vourite science, and always endeavoured to render that 
science as attractive as possibie. It must not be forgotiea 

Vol. XL N 



17« CURTIS. 

that he was one of the first, who, in spite of authority, 
Contributed to remove some reproaches to which it was» 
justly liable, on the score of indelicacy. This last praise 
is justly paid to Mr. Curtis by an excellent and very erai- 
iien^t friend, who has given the world a history of his life 
and merits in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1799, whence 
we have derived many of the above particulars.' 

CURTIUS (Cornelius), a native of Brussels, where 
he was born in 1586, became a monk of the Augustine 
order, and rose to honours and high official situations among 
his order; being prefect of the schools of Brussels and 
Louvaine, a provincial of various convents, and counsellor 
and historiographer to the emperor of Germany. He had 
the character of a man of extensive learning and piety, the 
latter carried sometimes to the minutiae of superstition, as 
appears by his work " De Clavis Dominicis," of which 
there are three editions, 1622, 1632, and 1670: in this 
he gravelj' discusses whether our Saviour was fixed to the 
cross with three nails or four? and decides in favour of the 
latter number. His more valuable works are: 1. " Vitae 
S. S. Ruperti et Virgilii," Ingolstadt, 1622. 2. " Epis- 
tolas familiares," ibid. 1621. 3. *' Poematum libri tres," 
Ant. 1629, 12mo. 4. *' Amphitheatrum amoruni, Christ, 
fonseca auotore, Curtio interprete," Ingolstadt, 1623, 
8vo. $. " Quadragesimale" by Fonseca, translated from 
the Spanish into Latin, Cologn. 6. *' Vit?e quinque Vir- 
ginum Augustiniarura," ibid. 1636. 7. " Elogia virorum 
illustrium Ord. Eremit. S. Augustini," with engraven por- 
traits, Antwerp, 1636, 4to. 8. "Vita S. Nicolai Tolen- 
tinatis," with tlie lives of other Augustines, ibid. 1637, 
Ifimo. He left also some unfinished manuscripts. He 
died in Oct. 1638.=* 

CURTIUS (Michael Conrad), professor of history {ind 
rhetoric at Marpurg, was born Aug. 18, 1724, at Techen- 
tin, in the duchy of Mecklenburg, of which place his 
father- was minister. After his decease, his mother mar- 
ried his successor, John Frederic Aepin ; and it was from 
him that her son's mind received its first cultivation. He 
was then placed in the schools at Parchim and Schwerin, 
and in 1742 repaired to the university of Rostock. Having 
comj)leted his academical studies, he accepted the situa- 

» Gent. Map. vol. LXIX. p. 6'28, 635, methodized in Rees's Cyclopadit. 
• Fttppeo iJibl. B'.lg, — .Mwreri.— Cteuicnt Bibl. Curieu»f. — Saxij Ouvsasft. 



C U R T I U S. 179 

tion of private tutor in the family of the superintendant 
Paul Rehfeld, of Stralsund. Here he remained till the 
minister of state, baron von Schwicheldt, of Hanover, be- 
came acquainted with him, and entrusted him with the 
education of his children. That gentleman gave Curtius 
many proofs of the regard he entertained for him. Among 
other things, during the seven years' war, at a time when 
he himself was overwhelmed with business, he once charged 
Curtius with an important commission to the duke of Bruns- 
wick, who then commanded the allied army. He likewise 
gained the entire confidence of that excellent minister, 
the baron von Miinchhausen, who had become acquainted 
with him by means of Schwicheldt. He held his situation 
in the house of the latter till 1759, when he was appointed 
regular professor at the academy of Liineburg, where he 
taught logic, metaphysics, history, &c. In 1767 he was 
appointed professor of history, rhetoric, and poetry, at 
Marburg, and about this time published his " Commentarii 
de Senatu Romano, sub imperatoribus, &c." In 1769, 
he also published a translation of Columella on agriculture, 
with notes. 

In 1758 he was invested with the dignitj' of privy-coun- 
sellor; and in 1795 became principal of the faculty of phi- 
losophy. He twice held the office of pro-rector of the 
university, in which he gave universal satisfaction. During 
a period of thirty-four years, he taught, with indefatigable 
diligence, all the branches of history, statistics, and geo- 
graphy- ; explained the Roman antiquities, the imitative 
arts, natural and experimental philosophy, rural economy, 
&c. and gave introductory lessons on the formation of a 
good Latin style. At the same time, he fulfilled all his 
other college-duties with the most scrupulous fidelity, till 
the few last weeks of his active life. His health was to- 
lerably good, excepting that he was sometimes attacked 
with a paralytic affection, aud symptoms of the stone. la 
the spring of 1802, his constitution began to break ; and, 
notwithstanding all the attention of his friend and phy- 
sician, Michaelis, his health declined rapidly. In the last 
twelve or fourteen days of his life, his memory was con- 
siderably impaired. He had been particularly distin- 
guished by the strength of that faculty ; and has frequently 
been known to write down in his lectures, whole tables, 
containing dates of years, and other figures, merely from 
recollection, and without a single error. This alteration^ 

N 2, 



180 C U R T I U S. 

and the anxiety lie felt because he was preventecl from at- 
tending his official duties, preyed on his mind, and weak-* 
ened him more than his disorder. On the 22d of August^ 
1802, this venerable man expired, aged seventy-eight years 
arid four days. 

Curtius was a man of the most extensive and various at- 
tainments 5 and his career as an author, an academical 
teacher, and a man, tended only to promote the welfare 
of his fellow creatures. His adopted country, Hesse, was 
particularly benefited by his history and statistics of that 
province, pubHshcd at Marburg in 171*3, and by numerous 
programmas which he drew up. By his smaller pieces, 
abounding: in critical investigrations and new views, he made 
many an important accession to the history of other Eui'o- 
pean states, and to literature in general. His labours 
were Ions: and meritorious : he could rejoice over then) at 
the termination of iiis career, and could behold with plea- 
sure many a flourishing plant of his own cultivation. All 
his fellow-citizens gave him the testimony that he was a 
learned and rigidly upright man, religious in the most ex- 
alted sense of the word, just and benevolent, open and 
undisguised. His calm, peaceful, and tranquil lite ; his 
indefatigable attention to his duties, without ostentation ; 
his manly spirit, which equally disdained artifice and base 
submissnon, deserve to be held forth as patterns for imi- 
tation.* 

CURTIUS (QuiNTUs), is the name, or assumed name^ 
of a Latin historian, who has written the actions of Alex- 
ander the Great, in ten books ; the two first of which are 
indeed not extant, but yet are so well supplied by Frein- 
shemius, as to be thought equal to the others. Where 
this author was born, and when he lived, are disputed 
points among the learned, and never likely to be settled. 
Some have fancied, from the elegant style of his history, 
that he must have lived in or near the Augustan age ; but 
there are no explicit testimonies to confirm this opinion 5 
and a judgment formed upon the single circumstance of 
style wiil always be found precarious. Others place hini 
in the reign of Vespasian, and others have brought him 
down so low as to Trajan's : Gibbon is inclined to place 
him in the time of Gordiau, in the middle of the third 
cciiiury ; and some have imagined that the name of Quintus 

' Monthly Magazine, — Saxii Ouomasticon, vol. VIII, 



C U R T I U S. .181 

Curtius was forged by an Italian, who composed that his- 
tory, or romance as it has been called, about three hundred 
years ago ; yet why so good a Latin writer, who might have 
gained tiie reputationof the lirst Latin scholar of his time, 
should have been willing to sacrifice his glory to that of an 
imaginary Quintus Curtius, is a question yet to be re- 
solved. On the other hand it is certain that Quintus Cur- 
tius was ati admired historian of the romantic ages. He is 
quoted in the " Policraticon" of John of Salisbury, who 
died ill the year 1181; and Peter Blesensis, archdeacon of 
London, a student at Paris, about 1150, mentioning the 
books most common in the schools, declares that " he pro- 
fited much by frequently looking into this author." All 
this is decidedly against the opinion that Quintus Curtiu. 
is a forgery of only three hundred years old. 

Cardinal du Perron was so ^reat an admirer of this his- 
torian, that he declared one page of him to be worth thirty 
ot Tacitus. This extiavagant admiration, however, may 
be somewhat abated by a view of what Le Clerc has written 
about this author, at the end of his book upon the art of 
of criticism ; in which are manifestly shewn several great 
faults in him, ignorance of astronomy and geography, con- 
tradictions, erroneous descriptions, bad taste in the choice 
of matter, carelessness in dating the events, kc. ; though 
perhaps, as Bayle rightly observes, the greatest part of 
those faults might be found in most ancient historians, if 
one would take the pains, or had the opportunity, to cri- 
ticise them severely. He has nevertheless many qualities 
as a writer, which will always make him admired and ap- 
plauded ; and notwithstanding the censures of some critics, 
this historian deserves to be commended for his sincerity, 
for he speaks the good and the bad of his hero, without 
the least prepossession of his merit. If any fault is to be 
found with his history, it is for being too highly polished. 

There is a singular anecdote, relating to this historian, 
preserved of Alphonso king of Naples, which may be 
mentioned as another proof of what we have advanced 
above, respecting the forgery of Quintus Curtius. This 
prince, who lived in the thirteenth century, labouring under 
an indisposition at Capua, from which none of his physi- 
cians could relieve him, every one strove to bring him 
such things as they thought would divert him best. An- 
tonius Panormita made choice of books, and among the 
rest, the history of Alexander, by Quintus Curtius. To 



182 C U H T I U" S. 

this the prince listened very attentively, and was so ex- 
tremely pleased with it, tbat he almost entirely recovered 
the very first day it was read to him. Upon which occa- 
sion he could not help rallying his physicians, and telling 
them, that whatever they might think of their Hippocrates 
and their Avicenna, Quintus Curtius was worth a thousand 
of them. 

The first edition of this author was printed in 1 470. The 
best editions of more modern date, are the Elzevir, 12mo, 
1633 and 1653 ; Freinsheim's, 1640, 2 vols. 8vo, and those 
of Rapp, 1640, 4to; Cellarius, 1688-91-96, 12mo, and Sna* 
kenburg, 1724, 4to. We have a very old E'.iglish translation 
by John Brende, dated 1561 ; a second by Codrington, 
1670; and a third more modern, by Digby, 2 vols. 12mo.* 

CUSA (Nicholas de), a cardinal, so called from Cusa, 
the place of his birth, was born in 1401. His parents were 
mean and poor; and it was his own personal merit which 
raised him to the height of dignity he afterwards attained. 
He was a man of extraordinary parts and learning, particu- 
larly famous for his vast knowledge in law and divinity, 
and a great natural philosopher and geometrician. Ni- 
cholas V. made him a cardinal by the title of St. Peter ad 
vincula, in 1448 ; and two years after, bishop of Brixia, 
In 1451 he was sent legate into Germany, to preach the 
crusade, but not succeeding in this attempt, he performed 
the more meritorious service of reforming some monasteries 
which he visited, and of establishing some new rules re- 
lating to ecclesiastical discipline. He returned to Rome 
under Calixtus III. and afterwards was made governor of it 
by Pius II. during his absence at Mantua, where he was 
chief concerter and manaojer of the war against the Turks, 

-1.1 ^ ^ 

He died at Todi, a city of Umbria, in 1464, aged sixty- 
three years. His body was interred at Rome ; but his 
heart, it is said, was carried to a church belonging to the 
hospital of St. Nicholas, which he had founded near Cusa, 
and where he collected a most noble and ample library of 
Greek and Latin authors. He left many excellent works 
behind him, which were printed in three volumes at Basil, 
in 1565. The first volume contains all his metaphysical 
tracts, in which he is very abstruse and profound ; the 
second, his controversial pieces, and others which relate 

' Geii. Diet, in art. Quintus.— Moieri.—Warton's Hist, of Poetry,— SaxiJ 
OttoinaEt. 



C U R T I U S, 183 

to the discipline of the church ; the third, his mathema- 
tical, geographical, and astronomical works. It is said of 
Cusa, that before 1)0 was made a cardinal, he had taken 
the freedom to reprehend some errors and misdemeanours 
in the pope; and there are some instances in his works, 
where he has made no scruple to detect and expose the 
lying sophistries and false traditions of his church. In his 
piece entitled " Catholic Concord," he has acknowledged 
the vanity and groundlessness of that famous donation of 
Constantine the Great to Sylvester, bishop of Rome. He 
gained considerable reputation by his *' Cribratio Alcorani." 
The Turks had taken Constantmople in 145 3, which 
seems to have given occasion to his writing this book, by 
way of antidoie, as he proposed it, to the doctrines of thff 
Koran, which were now in so fair a way of being spread 
through the western parts of the world. It appears by the 
dedication, that it was not written till after the loss of that 
city ; being inscribed to Pius II. who did not enter on 
the papacy till the Turks had been about three years iti' 
possession of it. It is a very learned and judicious per- 
formance.' 

CUSPINIAN (John), whose German name was Speis-' 
HAMMER, an eminent historian, was boin in 1473, at 
Sweinfurt, in Franconia, a[)d became distinguished as a 
philosopher, historian, orator, poet, and physician, although 
his historical works only have survi\ed. He was educated- 
at Vienna, where his studies were confined to medicine 
and poetry, and soon became in high favour with the em- 
peror Maximilian I. who made him his librarian, and after- 
wards employed him in various important negociations in 
Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland, and for many years admit- 
ted him to his presence as a confidential adviser, and placed 
him at the head of the senate of Vienna. When Cuspinian; 
meditated his historical writings, the emperor ordered the 
libraries and archives to be thrown open to him. He died 
in 1529. His biographer, Gerbelius, describes him as a 
man of elegant person, address, and manners; and his- 
works attest his learning and diligence in historical researclu 
In this branch he wrote : 1. " De Ciusaribus et Imperato- 
ribus RoQianorum," 1j19, fol. ; reprinted at Strasbingh, 
1540; Basil, by Oporinus, 1561, and Francfort, 1601. 

.. ' Moreri in art. Nicholas. — Frfcheri Tbeatrum. — Blount's Censura. — Cave.— 
Saxii OnomaEt. 



184 C U S P I N I A N. 

2. " Austria, sive Commentarius de rebus Austriae Mar- 
chionum, Ducum, &c." Basil, 1553, fol. ; Francf'ort, 1601. 

3. " Commonefactio ad Leoiiem X. papam, ad Carolum V. 
imperatorem, &c de Constantinopoli capta a Turcis, &c." 
Leipsic, 1596, 4to. 4. *' Commentarius in Sexti Rufi li- 
bellurn de regia, consulari, imperialique dignitate, &c.'* 
Basil, 1553, fol. with his life by Gerbelius, reprinted at 
Francfort, 1601, fol. 5. " De origine Turcorum," Ant- 
werp, 1541, 8vo. 6. " Patiegyrici variorum Auctorum,'* 
Vienna, 1513.' 

CUTHBERT (St.) was born in the north of England, 
in the beginning of the sixth century, and educated under 
the Scottish monks in the famous abbey of 1' col nihil I, ce- 
lebrated for having been the seat of learning for British 
and Irish monks in that age. The Scottish and Irish monks 
were then stimulated by the fervency of pious zeal to con- 
vert the pagan Saxons to the Christian religion, and for 
that purpose Cuthbert with some others settled in the 
island of Lindisferne, about four miles from Berwick. Eg- 
fred, king of Northumberland, invited Cuthbert to his 
court, where he converted and baptized many of his nobles, 
and acquired such reputation, that he received episcopal 
ordination at York, as bishop of the Northumbrian Saxons. 
But his love of solitude induced him to return to Lindis- 
ferne, since called Holy-island, where he founded a mo- 
nastery, the remains of which are yet to be seen. There 
he lived to a great age, and died in the year 686, leaving 
behind him a great number of disciples. Whatever may 
be said of those zealous monkish saints who lived from the 
fifth to the eighth century, it is certain they were better 
men than their successors have represented them. They 
never pretended to work miracles, but the latter monks 
have made them perform manv, even after their deaths. 
There can remain little doubt but Cuthbert was interred 
in Holy-island, where he resigned his breath; but the 
monks, ever fertile at invention, have told us many ridi- 
culous stories concerning him. They say that he was first 
buried at Norhan), in Northumberland ; but, not relishing 
the damp situation, he appeared in person to his monks, 
and desired them to carry his bones to Melrose, ahout 
twenty miles farther up the Tweed. His request was com- 

• Prfiheri Theatrum.— Blount's Censura.— Melchior Adam.— Fabric. Bibl, 
Med. et Inf. iEiat. — Saxii Onomast. 



C U T H B E R T. 185 

plied with ; but Melrose not being agreeable to him, he 
again appeared to his monks, and desired them to put him 
into a stone boat, and sail with him dovvn the Tweed to 
'I'ihnouth, where he rested some years. The stone boat 
was left with a farmer, wiio made it a tub for pickhng beef 
in, which enraged St. Cuthbert so much, that he came in 
the niglit-time and broke it in pieces. The monks, al- 
though almost tired with carrying ilie saint so often, were 
obliged to travel with him once more, and rested at Ches- 
ter ; but that place not being agreeable, they carried him 
to Durham, wliere his bones rested in peace till the time 
of the retormation, when the wife of Dr. Whittingham, 
then dean ot that church, and one of the translators of the 
psalms ascribed to Siernhold and Hopkins, ordered them 
to be taken up and thrown upon a dunghill.* 

CUTTS (John Lord), a brave officer in king William's 
wars, was a younger son of Richard Cutts, esq. of an 
ancient and distinguished family, settled about the time of 
Henry VI. at Matching in Essex, where they had consider- 
able property. His father removed to Childerley in Cam- 
bridgeshire, to take possession of a good estate given him 
by sir John Cutts, hart, who died without issue. This, 
estate, after the decease of an elder brother, devolved on 
John ; who sold it, to pay incumbrances, to equip himself 
as a soldier, and to enable hmiself to travel. After an 
academical education at Cambridge, he entered early into 
the service of the duke of Monu)outh, and afterwards was 
aid-de-camp to the duke of Lorrain in Hungary, and sig- 
nalized himself in a very extraordinary manner at the 
taking of Buda by the imperialists in 1686; which impor- 
tant place had been for nearly a century and a half in the 
hands of the Turks Mr. Addison, in a Latin poem, not 
unworthy of the Augustan age, plainly hints at Mr. Cutts's 
distinguished bravery at that siege. He was afterwards 
colonel of a regiment in Holland under the States, and ac- 
companied king William to Kngland, who " being gra- 
ciously pleased to confer a mark of his royal favour upon 
colonel John Cutts, for his faithful services, and zealous 
affection to his royal person and y;overnment, thought fit 
to create hnn a baron of the kingdom of Ireland, by the 
style and title of iiaron Cutts of Gowran in the said king- 

' Last edition of this Dirt. — Butltr's Lives of the Saints, and Biitanni* 
Sancta.— Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, toI. 1. p. 337. 



1S6 C U T T S. 

dom, December 6, 1690." He was appointed governor of 
the Isle of Wight, April 14, 1693 ; made a major-general j 
and, when the assassination-project was discovered, 1695-6, 
was captain of the king's guard. He was twice married ; 
first to Elizabeth, daughter of George Clark of London, 
merchant (relict of John Morley, of Glynd, in Sussex, and 
after, of John Trevor, esq. eldest brother to the first lord 
Trevor). This lady died in Feb. 1692. His second wife, 
jan amiable young woman, was educated under the care of 
her grandmother, the lady Pickering, of Cambridgeshire. 
She was brought to bed of a son, September 1, 1697, and 
died in a few days after, aged only 1 8 years and as many 
days. Her character has been admirably delineated by 
bishop Atterbury, in the dedication to a sermon he 
preached on occasion of her death. 

In 1695, and the three following parliaments, lord Cutts 
was regularly elected one of the representatives both for 
the county of Cambridge, and for the borough of New* 
port in the Isle of Wight ; but made his election for the 
former. In two parliaments which followed (1702 and 
1705) he represented Newport. In 1698 he was compli- 
mented by Mr. John Hopkins, as one to whom " a double 
crown was due," as a hero and as a poet. In 1699, he is 
thus introduced in a compliment to king William on his 
conquests : 

" The warlike Cutts the welcome tidings brings. 
The true brave servant of the best of kings j 
Cutts, whose known worth no herald needs proclaim. 
His wounds and his own worth can speak his fame." 

He was colonel of the Coldstream, or second regiment of 
guards, in 1701 ; when Steele, who was indebted to his 
interest for a captain's commission in the lord Lucas's regi- 
ment of fusileers, inscribed to him his first work, " The 
Christian Hero," On the accession of queen Anne, he 
was made a lieutenant-general of the forces in Holland. 
February 13, 1702-3, he was appointed commander in 
chief of the English forces on the continent, during the 
absence of the duke of Marlborough ; commander in chief 
of the forces in Ireland, under the duke of Ormond, March 
23, 170'l'-5; and afterwards one of the lords justices of 
that kingdom, to keep him out of the way of action, a cir- 
cumstance which broke his heart. He died at Dublin, 
Jan. 26, 1706-7, and was buried there on the 29th, in the 



C U T T S. 187 

cathedral of Christ-church. He was a person of eminent 
natural parts, well cultivated hy study and conversation ; 
of a free, unreserved temper; and of undaunted braveiy 
and resolution. As he was a servant to queen Mary when 
princess of Orange, and learned the trade of war under her 
consort, he was early devoted to them both, and a warm 
supporter of the revolution. He was an absolute stranger 
to fear; and on all occasions gave distinguishing proofs of 
his intrepidity, particularly at the siege of Limerick in 
1691, at the meu)orable attack of the castle of Namur in 
1695, and at the siege of Venio in 1702. Macky says of 
him, in 1703 : " He hath abundance of wit, but too much 
seized with vanity and self-conceit ; he is affable, familiar, 
and very brave. Few considerable actions happened in 
this as well as the last war, in which he was not, and hath 
been wounded in all tlie actions where he served ; is es- 
teemed to be a mighty vigilant officer, and for putting the 
military orders in execution ; he is pretty tall, lusty, well- 
shaped, and an agreeable companion ; hath great revenues, 
yet so very expensive, as always to be in debt ; towards 
fifty years old." Swift, in a MS note on the above pas- 
sage, with his usual laconic cruelty, calls lord Cutts, 
*' The vainest old fool alive." He wrote a poem on the 
death of queen Mary ; and published in 1687, " Poetical 
Exercises, written upon several occasions, and dedicated 
to her Royal Highness Mary Princess of Orange ; licensed 
March 23, 1686-7, Roger L'Estrange." It contains, be- 
sides the dedication signed "J. Cutts," verses to that prin- 
cess ; a poem on Wisdom ; another to Mr. Waller on his 
commending it; seven more copies of verses (one of them 
called " La Muse Cavalier," which had been ascribed to 
lord Peterborough, and as such mentioned by Mr. Walpole 
in the list of that nobleman's writings), and eleven songs ; 
the whole composing a very thin volume, which is by no 
means so scarce as Mr. Walpole supposes it to be. The 
author speaks of having more pieces by him.^ 

CYNEAS, originally of Thessaly, the disciple of De- 
mosthenes and minister of Pyrrhus, equally celebrated as 
a philosopher and as an orator, flourished in the 125th. 
olympiad, about 280 B. C. Pyrrhus said of him, " that 
he had taken more towns by his eloquence, than he had by 

' Biog. Urit. for which the life was originally drawn up by Mr. Nichols.— -See 
also his Collection of Poems, and Atterliury's Correspondence.— Orfoid's Royal 
and Noble Authors. — Swift's Woiks, by Nichols, 



188 C Y N E A S. 

his arms." This prince sent him to Rome to solicit a 
peace, which was nearly granted him, when Appius Clau- 
dius and Fabricius, who were not to moved by the flowers 
of rhetoric, influenced the senate to adopt other measures. 
Cyneas, being returned to the camp of Pyrrhus, described 
Rome to him as a temple, the senate as an assembly of 
kings, and the Roman people as a hydra, which recruited 
its vigour as often as it was defeated. Pliny cites tlie me- 
mory of Cyneas as a prodigy, at least in remembering per- 
sons ; for the day after his arrival at Rome, he saluted all 
the senators and knights by their several names. ,He 
abridged the book of ^neas the tactician, on the defence 
of places, which Casaubon published with a Latin version, 
in the Paris edition of Polybius, 1609, folio, and M. de 
Beausobre translated it into french, with comments, 1757, 
4-to. * 

CYPRIAN (Thascius C/ecilius), a principal father of 
the Christian church, was born at Carthage in Africa, 
about the beginning of the third century. We know no- 
thing more of his parents, than that they were heathens ; 
and he himself continued such till the last twelve years of 
his life. He applied himself early to the study of oratory ; 
and some of the ancients, Lactantius in particular, informs 
us, that he taught rhetoric at Carthage with the highest 
applause. TertuUian was his master ; and Cyprian was so 
fond of reading him, that, as St. Jerome tells us, seldom a 
day passed without his saying to his amanuensis, *' Da ma- 
gistrum," Give me my master. Cyprian, however, far 
excelled TertuUian as a writer. 

In the year 2i6 Cyprian was prevailed on to embrace 
Christianity, at Carthage, by Csecilius, a priest of that 
church, whose name Cyprian afterwards took ; and be- 
tween whom there ever after subsisted so close a friend- 
ship, that Ca^cilius at his death committed to Cyprian the 
care of his family. Cyprian was also a married man him- 
self; but as soon as he became a Christian, he resolved 
upon a state of continence, which was thought a high de- 
gree of piety, as being yet not become general. This we 
learn from his deacon Pontius, who has left ns memoirs of 
his life, which are prefixed to his works, but are not so 
ample in information as might have been expected from 
one who knew him so well. It was now incumbent upon 

* Moreri, &c. 



CYPRIAN. 189 

him to give the usual proof of the sincerity of his conver- 
sion, by writing against paganism, and in defence of Chris- 
tianity. \Vith this view he composed his piece '* De gra- 
tia Dei, or, concerning the grace of God," wiiich he ad- 
dressed to Donatiis. It is a work of the same nature with 
the Apologetic of Tertnllian, and the Octavius of Minutius 
FeHx ; and it is remarkal)h", iliat Cyprian has not only in- 
sisted upon the same arguments with those writers, but 
frequently transcribed their words, those of Minutius Felix 
especially. In the year 247, the year after his conversion, 
he composed another piece upon the subject, entitled 
*' De idolorum vanitate, or, upon the vanity of idols;" in 
which he has taken the same liberties with Tertuliian and 
Minutius Felix. His Oxford editor, bishop Fell, endea- 
vours to excuse him from the charge of plagiarism upoa 
this occasion ; becaqse, says he, having the same points 
to treat as all the apologists had before, namely, the truth 
and excellency of Christianity, and the falsehood and vanity 
of heathenism, he could not vv,ell avoid making use of the 
same topics. 

Cyprian's behaviour, both before and after his baptism, 
was so highly pleasing to the bishop of Carthage, that he 
ordained liim priest a few months after, although it waa 
rather irregular to ordain any person in his noviciate : But 
Cyprian was so extraordinary a person, and thought capa- 
ble of doing: such singidar service to the church, that it 
might seem allowable in his case to dispense a little with 
the form and discipline of it. Besides his known talents as 
a man of learning, he had acquired a high reputation of 
sanctity since his conversion ; having not only separated 
himself from his wife, which in those days was thought an 
extraordinary act of piety, but also consigned over all his 
goods to the poor, and given himself up entirely to the 
things of God ; and on this account, when the bishop of 
Carthage died the year after, that is, in the year 248, none 
was judged so proper to succeed him as Cyprian. Cyprian 
himself, as Pontius tells us, was extremely against it, and 
kept out of the way on jjurpose to avoid being chosen j 
but the people insisted upon it, and he was forced to com- 
ply. The quiet and repose which the Christians had en- 
joyed for the last forty years, had, it seems, greatly cor- 
rupted their manners ; and tlierefore Cyprian's first care, 
after his advancement to the bishopric, was to correct dis- 
orders and reform abuses. Luxury was prevalent among 



190 CYPRIAN. 

them ; and many of their women weie remarkable inde- 
corous in the article of dress. This occasioned him to draw 
up his piece, " De habitu virginum, or, concerning the 
dress of young women ;" in which, besides what he says 
on that particular head, he inculcates many lessons of mo- 
desty and sobriety. 

In the year 249, the emperor Decius began to issue out 
very severe edicts against the Christians, which particu- 
larly affected those living upon the coasts of Africa ; and 
in the beginning of the year 250, the heathens, in the 
circus and amphitheatre at Carthage, loudly insisted upon 
Cyprian's being thrown to the lions : a common method, 
as is well known, of destroying the primitive Christians, 
Cyprian upon this withdrew from his church at Carthage, 
and fled into retirement, to avoid the fury of the persecu- 
tion ; which step, how justifiable soever in itself, gave 
great scandal, and seems to have been considered by the 
clergy of Rome, in a public letter written upon the sub- 
ject of it to the clergy of Carthage, as a desertion of his 
post and pastoral duty. It is no wonder, therefore, to find 
Cyprian himself, as well as his apologist, Pontius, the 
writer of his life, so solicitous to excuse it ; which they 
both endeavour to do by affirming, in the true spirit of the 
times, " that he was commanded to retire by a special 
revelation from heaven ; and that his flight was not the 
effect of any other fear but that of offending God." It u 
remarkable, that this father was a great pretender to visions. 
For instance, in a letter to Caecilius, he declares, ** that 
he had received a divine admonition, to mix water with 
wine in the sacrament of the eucharist, in order to render 
it effectual." In another to the clergy, concerning cer- 
tain priests, who had restored some lapsed Christians too 
hastily to the communion of the church, he threatens them 
to execute " what he was ordered to do against them, in a 
vision, if they did not desist." He makes the same threat 
to one Pupianus, who had spoken ill of him, and withdrawn 
himself from his communion. In a letter likewise to the 
clergy and the people, he tells them, " how he had been 
admonished and directed by God to ordain one Numidicus 
a priest." Dodwell, in his " Dissertationes Cyprianicte," 
has made a large collection of these visions af Cyprian, 
which he treats with more reverence than they seem to 
deserve. 

As soon as Cyprian had withdrawn himself, ho was pro- 



CYPRIAN. 191 

scribed by name, and his goods confiscated. He lay con- 
cealed, but not inactive; for he continued to write from 
time to time to the clergy and to the laity such letters as 
their unhappy situation and occasions required. He ex- 
horted the clergy to take care of the discipline of the 
church, of the poor, and especially of those who suffered 
for the gospel ; and he gave them particular directions 
upon each of these heads. He exhorted the people to be 
of good courage, to stand fast in the faith, and to per- 
severe against all the terrors of persecution even unto 
death ; assuring them, in the words of the apostle, that the 
present " afflictions, which were but for a moment, would 
work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." When the persecution ceased, either in 251 or 
252, Cyprian returned to Carthage, and appeared again 
at the head of his clergy. He had now much business 
upon his hands, which was occasioned in his absence, 
partly by the persecution, and the disorders attending it, 
and partly by divisions which had arisen among the Chris- 
tians. The first thing that presented itself was the case of 
the lapsed, or those unhappy members of the church who 
had not been able to scand the fiery trial of persecution, 
but had been drawn by the terrors of it to renounce Christ, 
and sacrifice to idols ; and for the settling of this, he im- 
mediately called a council at Carthage. The year after, 
he called another council, to sit upon the baptism of 
infants; and, in 255, a third, to debate concerning bap-* 
tism received from heretics, which was there determined 
to be void and of no effect. All these points had produced 
great disputes and disturbances; and as to the last, namely, 
heretical baptism, it was so far from being fixed at Car- 
thage to the satisfaction of the church, that Stephen, the 
bishop of Rome, and a great part of the Christian world, 
afterwards opposed it with the utmost violence. 

These divisions and tumults among the Christians raised 
a second persecution against them, in 257, under the 
emperor Valerian. Cyprian was summoned to appear 
before Paternus, the proconsul of Carthage, by whom, 
after he had confessed himself a Christian, and refused to 
sacrifice to idols, he was condemned to be banished. He 
was sent to Curebis, a little town fifty miles from Carthage, 
aituated by the sea, over against Sicily : and here Pontius 
says he had another vision, admonishing him of his death, 
i^hich was to happen the year after. When he had con- 



192 CYPRIAN. 

tinued in this place, where he was treated with kindness 
by the natives, and frequently visited by the Christians, 
for eleven months, Galerius Maximus, a new proconsul, 
who had succeeded Aspasius, recalled him from his exile, 
and ordered him publicly to appear at Carthage, Gale- 
rius, however, bein^^ retired to Utica, and Cyprian having 
intimation that he was to be carried thither, the latter 
absconded, and, when soldiers were sent to apprehend 
tim, was not to be found. Cyprian excuses this conduct 
in a letter, by saying, that " it was not the fear of death 
which made him conceal himself, but that he thought it 
became a bishop to die upon the spot, and in sight of that 
flock over which he presided." Accordingly, when the 
proconsul returned to Carthage, Cyprian came forth, and 
presented himself to the guards, who were commissioned 
and ready to seize him. He was carried to the proconsul, 
who ordered him to be brought again on the morrow. 
Cyprian being introduced, the proconsul put several ques-" 
tions to him, which he replying to with unchangeable for- 
titude, the former pronounced upon him the sentence of 
death ; to which the martyr answered, " God be praised!'* 
He was then led awa} to the place of execution, where he 
suffered with great firmness and constancy ; after he had 
been bishop of Carthage ten years, and a Christian not 
more than twelve. He died Sept. 14, 258. 

The works of tliis father and confessor have been often 
printed. The first edition of any note was that of Rigal- 
tius, printed at Paris in 164S; afterwards in 1666, with 
very great additions. This edition of Rigaltius was con- 
siderably improved by Fell, bishop of Oxford ; at which 
place it was handsomely printed in 1682, with the " An- 
nales Cypr.anici" of bishop Pearson prefixed. Fell's edi- 
tion was reprinted at Amsterdam in 1700; after which a 
Benedictine monk published another edition of this father 
at Paris in 1727. The works of Cyprian have been trans- 
lated into English by Dr. Marshal in 1717 ; for this reason 
chiefiy, that of all the f. thers none are capable of being 
so useiully quoted, in su|)poriing the doctrines and dis- 
cipline of our church, as he. His It ttcrs are particularly 
valuable, as they not only afford more particulars of his 
life than Pontius has oriven, but are a valuable treasure of 
ecclesiastical liistory. The spiiit, taste, discipline, and ha- 
bits of the times, among Christians, an- strongly deli- 
Bcated i nor have we m all the thud century auy accouut 



CYRIL. 193 

to be compared with them. In his general style, he is the 
most eloquent and perspicuous of all the Latin fathers. * 

CYRANO. See BERGERAC. 

CYRIL, of Jerusalem, was ordained a priest of that 
church by Maximus bishop of Jerusalem ; and after Maxi- 
mus's death, which happened about the year 350, became 
his successor in that see, through the interest of Acacius 
bishop of Cassarea, and the bishops of his party. This 
made the orthodoxy of Cyril higldy suspected, because 
Acacius was an Arian ; and St. Jerome accuses Cyril, as if 
h« was one too : but Theodoret assures us, that he was 
not. His connexions, however, with Acacius, were pre- 
sently broken by a violent contest which arose between 
them about the prerogatives of their respective sees. The 
council of Nice had decreed to the bishop of Jerusalem the 
honour of precedency amongst the bishops of his province, 
without concerning himself at all with the right of the 
church of Cffisarea, which was metropolitan to that of Je- 
rusalem. This made Maximus, and after him Cyril, who 
were bishops of Jerusalem, to insist upon certain rights 
about consecrating bishops, and assembling councils, which 
Acacius considered as an encroachment upon the jurisdic- 
tions of his province. Hence a dispute ensued, and Aca- 
cius calling a synod, contrived to have Cyril deposed, 
under the pretence of a very great sin he had committed in 
the time of a late famine, by exposing to sale the treasures 
of the church, and applying the money to the support of 
the poor. This, however, might possibly have been passed 
over, as an offence at least of a pardonable nature, but for 
one circumstance that unluckily attended it; which was, 
that amongst these treasures that were sold there was a rich 
embroidered robe, which had been presented to the church 
by Constantine the Great ; and this same robe was afterwards 
seen to have been worn by a common actress upon the 
stage : which, as soon as it was known, was considered as a 
horrible profanation of that sacred vestment. 

Cyril, in the mean time, encouraged by the emperor 
Constantius himself, appealed from the sentence of depo- 
sition which Acacius and his council had passed upon him, 
to the higher tribunal of a more numerous council ^ but 
was obliged to retire to Tarsus, where he was kindly re- 

• Cave. — Dupin. — Lardner, — Mosheim; but cbiefly Milner's Eccl. History 
Fol. I. 3W, et seq. 

Vol. XL O 



194 CYRIL. 

ceived by Sylvanus, the bishop of that place, and suflfered 
to celebrate the holy mysteries, and to preach in his diocese. 
In the year 359 he appeared at the council of Seleucia, 
where he was treated as a lawful bishop, and had the rank 
of precedency given him by several bishops, though Aca- 
cius did all he could to hinder it, and deposed him a se- 
cond time. Under Julian he was restored to his see of 
Jerusalem, and is said to have interposed to prevent the 
attemjjts that were made in that reign to rebuild the tem- 
ple. Lastly, under Theodosius, we find him firmly esta- 
blished in his old honours and dignities, in which he con- 
tinued unmolested to the time of his death, which hap- 
pened in the year 386. 

The remains of this father are not voluminous ; but con- 
sist of eighteen catechetical discourses, and five mysta- 
gogic catecheses, and a single letter. The letter is in- 
deed a remarkable one, as well for its being written to 
Constantius, as for the subject it is written upon : for it 
gives a wonderful account of the sign of the cross, which 
appeared in the heavens at Jerusalem, in the reign of this 
emperor, which was probably some natural phenomenon 
not then understood. His catecheses form a well-dicrested 
abridgment of the Christian doctrine : the first eighteen 
are addressed to catechumens, and the other five to the 
newly baptised. The style is plain and simple. The best 
editions of his works are those of Petavius, Paris, 1622, fol.; 
of Pnevotius, ibid. 1631; of Milles, Oxford, 1703; and of 
Touttee, Paris, 1720. ' 

CYRIL, of Alexandria, another celebrated father of the 
church, succeeded his uncle Theophilus in the bishopric of 
that place in the year 412; and as the bishops of Alexandria 
had long acquired great authority and power in that city, 
Cyril took every opportunity to confirm and increase it. He 
was no sooner advanced to this see, than he drove the Nova- 
tians out of the city ; and, as Dupin says, stripped Theo- 
pemptus their bishop of every thing he had. In the year 
415 the Jews committed some insult upon the Christians of 
Alexandria, which so inflamed the zeal of Cyril that he put 
himself at the head of his people, demolished the syna- 
gogues of the Jews, drove them all out of the city, and 
suffered the Christians to pillage their effects. This, how- 
ever, highly displeased Orestes, the governor of the town ; 

1 Cave.—Dupin. 



CYRIL. 195 

who began to be sensible that the bishop's authority, if 
not timely suppressed, might possibly be found too strong 
for that of ilie magistrate. Upon whicli a kind of war broke 
out between Orestes and tlie bishop, and each had his 
party : the inhabitants were inclined to be seditious ; many 
tumults were raised, and some battles fought in the very 
streets of Alexandria. One day, when Orestes \vas abroad 
in an open chariot, he found himself instatuly surrounded 
with about 500 monks, who had left their monasteries to 
revenge the quarrel of their bishop. They pursued him 
fiercely, wounded him with stones, and had certainly killed 
him, if the people had not restrained their fury till his 
guards came up to his relief. Ammonius, one of these 
monks, was afterwards seized by the order of Orestes, 
and, being put upon the rack, died under the operation. 
Cyril, however, had him immediately canonized, and took 
every public opportunity of commending his zeal and 
constancy. About the same time there was at Alexandria 
a heathen philosophess, named Hypatia, whose fame and 
character were every where so celebrated, that people 
came from all parts to see and to consult her. Orestes saw 
her often, which made the Christians imagine that it was 
she who inspired the governor with such an aversion to 
their bishop. This suspicion wrought so strongly upon 
some of their zealots, that on a certain day they seized 
upon Hypatia as she was returning home, dragged her 
violently through the streets, and caused the mob to tear 
her limb from limb. Damascius, who wrote the life of 
Isidore the philosopher, charges Cyril himself with being 
the contriver of this horrid murder. 

But what affords the most memorable instance of Cyril's 
fiery zeal, is his quarrel with Nestorius, bishop of Constan- 
tinople. Nestorius had urged in some of his homilies, 
that the virgin Mary ought not to be called the mother of 
.God ; and these homilies coming to Egypt, raised no small 
disturbances among the monks there. Cyril wrote a pas- 
toral letter to the monks, in which he maintained, that she 
was indeed the mother of God, and therefore ought to be 
called so. As soon as Nestorius heard of this letter, he 
openly declared Cyril his enemy, and refused to have any 
further commerce with him. Cyril upon this, wrote Nes- 
torius a very civil letter, without approving his doctrine ; 
which Nestorius answered as civilly, without retracting it 
The affair was laid at length before pope Celestiue j aftei 

O 2 



196 CYRIL. 

which Cyril, supported by the pontiff's authority, began 
to issue forth anathemas against Nestorius and his doctrine, 
and the quarrel rose to such a pitch, that it was necessary 
to convene a general council at Ephesus, in order to put 
an end to it : where some bishops of the East, who were 
assembled on the part of Nestorius, gave Cyril so warm an 
opposition, that they got him deprived of his bishopric, and 
thrown into prison. But he was soon set at liberty and re- 
stored, and gained a complete victory over Nestorius, who 
was deposed from his see of Constantinople in the year 43 1 . 
Cyril returned to Alexandria, where he died in the year 444. 
His works are voluminous, and have been often printed. 
They consist of the commentaries upon the Pentateuch, 
called " Glaphyra, &c." Isaiah, the 12 lesser prophets, 
and St. John's gospel; 17 books on the adoration and 
worship of God in spirit and truth, composed in form of a 
dialogue ; dialogues on the holy and consubstantial tri- 
nity, and on the incarnation ; a discourse of the orthodox 
faith ; homilies, letters, and apologies. John Aubert, ca- 
non of Laon, published the best edition in Greek and Latin, 
1638, 6 vols, fol. which are bound in seven, because vol. 
5th consists of two parts. St. Cyril's style is diffuse and 
singular ; his writings contain much subtilty, metaphysical 
reasoning, and all the niceties of logic. St. Isidore, of 
Pelusium, accuses him of acting with too much zeal and 
heat during the disputes in which he was engaged ; but 
the catholic writers think that he atoned for that fault by 
his piety and innocent life.' 

CYRIL LUCAR, a famous patriarch of Alexandria, af- 
terwards of Constantinople, was born November 12, 1572, 
in the island of Candia. He studied at Venice and Padua, 
and was pupil to the celebrated Margunius, bishop of Cy- 
thera. Cyril went afterwards into Germany, embraced the 
doctrine of the reformed religion, and attempted to intro- 
duce it into Greece ; but the Greeks opposed it, and ha 
wrote a confession of faith, in which he defended his prin- 
ciples. Having been archimandrite, he was raised to the 
patriarchate of Alexandria, and, some time after, elected 
to that of Constantinople, 1621; but, continuing firm in 
his connections with the protestants, he was deposed, and 
confined in the island of Rhodes. Some time after, how- 
ever, he was restored to his dignity, at the solicitation of 

» Care. — Dupin. — Moreri. 



CYRIL. 197 

the English ambassador; but in 1638 he was carried from 
Constantinople and put to death near the Black Sea, by 
order of the grand signior, in the most cruel mann-er. He 
had a mind much superior to the slavish condition of his 
country, and laboured to promote the interests of genuine 
Christianity, amidst much opposition and danger. He had 
collected a very excellent library, rich in Greek MSS. a 
specimen of which, the celebrated Codex Alexandrinus, 
one of the most ancient and valuable manuscripts in the 
world, he presented to king Charles I. by his ambassador, 
sir Thomas Roe. The fate of his other MSS. was pecu- 
liarly lamented. In order to secure them, the Dutch re- 
sident at Constantinople sent them by a ship bound for 
Holland, which was wrecked in sight of land, and all her 
cargo lost. ' 

CYRILLO, Dominic. See CIRILLO. 

» Moreri. — Diet. Hist. — Pocock's Works and Life by Twells,. and '.' CoUec- 
taaeade Cyrilio Lucario," by 3i»itU# Lond. 1707, 8vo. 



( 1S8 ) 



D. 



D'aCHERI. See ACHERI. 

DACIER (Andrew), a French critic and philologer, 
was born of protestant parents at Castres in Upper Lan- 
guedoc April 6, 1651, and began to be educated in the 
college there ; but, when by a decree of the council the 
direction of it was given, in 1664, to the Jesuits alone, 
his father sent him to the university of Puylaurens, and 
afterwards to that of Sauniur, that he might finish his clas- 
sical studies under Tannegui le Fevre, or Tanaquil Faber. 
This eminent scholar was so pleased with Dacier's inclina- 
tion for learning, that he kept him alone in his house, after 
he had dismissed the rest of the pupils; and here he con- 
ceived that affection for le Fevre's celebrated daughter, 
which ended at length in marriage. On le Fevre's death 
in 1672, Dacier returned to his father; and after some 
time went to Paris, in order to gain a settlement, and cul- 
tivate the acquaintance a,nd friendship of the learned : in 
the former of these objects he did not at first succeed; but 
on a second visit to Paris, he procured an introduction to 
the duke of Montausier, governor to the dauphin, who put 
him on the list of the commentators for the use of the dau- 
phin, and engaged him in the edition of Pompeius Festus, 
and Marcus Verrius Flaccus. This he published at Paris, 
3681, in 4to; and it was again published at Amsterdam, 
1699, in 4to, which edition is preferable to that of Paris, 
because there are added to it the entire notes of Joseph 
Scaliger, Fulvius Ursinns, and Anthony Augustinus, and 
the new fragments of Festus. His Horace, with a French 
translation, and notes critical and historical, came out at 
Paris, 1681, in 10 vols. !2mo, and has often been printed 
since. The best edition of this work is that of Amsterdam, 
1726, consisting of the same number of volumes in the 
same size. Another edition was printed at Amsterdam in 
8 vols, 12mo, to which were added the translation and 
notes of father Sanadon, published at Paris, 1728, in 2 vols, 
4to, Mr. John Masson, a refugee minister in Englaud| 



D A C I E R. 195 

made several animadversions upon Dacier's notes on Ho- 
race, in his life of that poet, prnited at Leyden in 1708 ; 
which occasioned Dacier to publish new explications upon 
the works of Horace, with an answer to the criticisms of 
Mr, Masson, in which he treats Masson's book with great 
contempt; and, speaking of verbal criticism, styles it 
" the last effort of reflection and judgment." These were 
afterwards added to Sanadon's edition of Dacier's Horace. 

The next specimen of his learning was in the edition he 
gave of the twelfth book of the anagogical contemplations 
of St. Anastasius, monk of mount Sinai, upon the creation 
of the world, now first published, together with notes and 
a Latin translation, London, 1682, 4to. 

In 1683 Dacier married mademoiselle le Fevre ; and in 
1685 abjured with his lady the protestant religion. His 
marriage, which was styled " the union of Greek and La- 
tin," added considerably to his felicity, and procured him 
an able assistant in his studies and publications. In 1691 
he was assisted by madame Dacier in a French translation 
of the moral reflections of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, 
with notes, in 2 vols. 12mo. In 1692 he published Aris- 
totle's Poetics, translated into French, with critical re- 
marks, in 4to. This work was reprinted in Holland in 
12mo; and some have considered it as Dacier's master- 
piece. In 1G93 he published a French translation of the 
Oedipus ami Electra of Sophocles, in 12mo ; but not with 
the same success as the Poetics just mentioned. We have 
already noticetl six publications of Dacier : the rest shall 
now follow in order ; for the life of this learned man, like 
that of most others, is little more than a history of his 
works. He published, 7. Plutarch's Lives, translated into 
French, with notes, Paris, 1694, vol, I. Svo. This essay, 
which contains oidy five lives, is the beginning of a work, 
which he afterwards finished, 8. The works of Hippo- 
crates, translated into French, with notes, and compared 
with the manuscripts in the king's library, Paris, 1697, 
2 vols. 12mo. The Journal des S^avans speaks well of 
this version. 9. The works of Plato, translated into French, 
with notes, and the life of that j)hilosopher, with an ac- 
count of the principal doctrines of his philosophy, 1699, 
2 vols. 12mo. These are only some of Plato's pieces. 
10. The lite of Pythagoras, his Symbols, and Golden Verses, 
the life of Hierocles, and his Commentary upon the Golden 
A^erses, 1706, 2 vols. 12mo. 



200 D A C I E R. 

In 1695, Dacier had succeeded Felibien in the academy 
of inscriptions, and Francis de Hariay, archbishop of Paris, 
in the French academy. In 1701 a new regulation was 
made-in the academy of inscriptions, by which every mem- 
ber was obhged to undertake some useful work suitable to 
his genius and course of studies : and, in conformity to 
this order, Dacier undertook the above translation of the 
life of Pythagoras, &c. 11. The manual of Epictetus, 
with five treatises of Simplicius upou important subjects, 
relating to morality and religion, translated into French^ 
with notes, 1715, 2 vols. I2mo. The authors of the " Eu- 
rope S9avante of Jan. 1718," having criticised the speci- 
men he had given of his translation of Plutarch's Lives, he 
printed, 12. An Answer to them, and inserted it in the 
Journal des S^avans of the 25th of June and the 11th of 
July 1718. 13. Plutarch's Lives of illustrious men, re- 
vised by the MSS. and translated into French, with notes 
historical and critical, and the supplement of those com- 
parisons which are lost. To which are added, those heads 
which could be found, and a general index of matters con- 
tained in the work, Paris, 1721, 8 vols. 4to ; Amsterdam, 
1723, 9 vols. 8vo. This work was received with applause, 
and supposed to be well executed ; yet not so, say the au- 
thors of the Bibliotheque Fran^oise, as to make the world 
at once forget the translation of Amyot, obsolete as it is. 
Dacier published some other things of a lesser kind, as, 
14. A Speech made in the French academy, on his admis- 
sion. 15. Answers, which he made, as director of the 
academy, to the speech of M. Cousin in 1697, and to that 
of M. de Boze in 1715, both inserted in the collections of 
the French academy. 16. A dissertation upon the origin 
of Satire, inserted in the second volume of the memoirs of 
the academy of Belles Lettres in 1717. 17. Notes upon 
Longinus. Boileau, in the preface to his translation of 
Longinus, styles these notes very learned ; and says, that 
*' the author of them is not only a man of very extensive 
learning, and an excellent critic, but likewise a gentleman 
of singular politeness ; which is so much the more valuable, 
as it seldom attends great learning." Boileau has added 
them to his own notes upon Longinus ; and they are 
printed in all the editions of his works. Dacier wrote also 
a commentary upon Theocritus, which he mentions in his 
notes upon Horace, ode xxix ; and a short treatise upon 
religion, containing the reasons which brought him over to 



D A C I E R. 201 

the church of Rome : but these two works were never 
printed. 

He had a share too in the medallic history of Lewis XIV. ; 
and, when it was finished, was chosen to present it to his 
majesty ; who, being informed of the pains which Dacier 
had taken in it, settled upon him a pension of 2000 Hvres ; 
and about the same time appointed him keeper of the 
books of the king's closet in the Louvre. In 1713 he was 
made perpetual secretary of the French academy. In 
1717 he obtained a grant in reversion of 10,000 crowns 
upon his place of keeper of the books of the king's closet ; 
and when this post was united to that of library-keeper to 
the king, in 1720, he was not only continued in the privi- 
leges of his place during lite, but the reversion of it was 
granted to his wife ; a favour, of which there had never 
been an instance before. But her death happening first, 
rendered this grant, so honourable to her, ineffectuak 
Great as Dacier's grief was for the loss of an helpmate so 
like himself, it did not prevent him from seeking out ano- 
ther ; and he had actually been inarried at a very advanced 
period of life, had he not died almost suddenly on Sept. 
18, 1722, of an ulcer in the throat, which he did not 
think at all dangerous, since that very evening he was 
present at the academy. He was 7 1 years of age ; short 
of stature, and of a long and meagre visage. He was a 
great promoter of virtue and learning ; and if he was some- 
what partial to the ancients, in the famous controversy on 
the comparative merits of the ancients and moderns, yet 
this may be pardoned in one who had so assiduously studied 
their works. It would be less easy to excuse his occasional 
boldness as a critic, and his intemperance as a disputant. 
In his own time, however, he enjoyed deserved reputation. 
He chose none but useful subjects ; devoted his labours to 
works only of importance ; and ekiriched the French lan- 
guage with those remains of wise antiquity, which are most 
advantageous to the morals of mankind. He could vfit 
make his countrymen classical, but he did what he could 
to give them a relish for the ancients. This, however, 
although an useful attempt in his day, has narrowed the 
bounds of his fame, and except in his Aristotle's Poetics, 
and some parts of his Horace, modern critics seem disin- 
clined to acknowledge his taste and critical acumen. * 

* Gen. Diet. — Moreri. — Niceron, vol. Ill, — Baillet Jugemens. — MorhoffPo- 
Jyhist. — Saxii Onomasticon. 



202 D A C I E R. 

DACIER (Anne), the learned wife of the preceding, 
was born at Saiimur, about the end of 1651. She was only 
eleven years old when her father resolved to give her a 
learned education ; which is said to have been owing to the 
following circumstance, that while he was teaching one of 
his sons the rudiments of grammar, in the same room where 
mademoiselle le Fevre was employed with her needle, she, 
with every appearance of unconcern, now and then supplied 
her brother with answers to questions that puzzled him. This 
induced her father to give her a regular course of lessons, 
and educate her as a scholar, in which character she soon 
excelled the youths under his care, and became her father's 
associate in some of his publications. We are told that 
when she had learned Latin enough to read Phaedrus and 
Terence, he began to instruct her in the Greek, which 
she was so much pleased with, that in a short time she was 
capable of reading Anacreon, Callimachus, Homer, and 
the Greek Tragic Poets. As she read them, she shewed 
so much taste of the beauties of those admirable writers, 
that all the fatigue of her father in his professorship was 
softened by the pleasure which he found in teaching her. 
To divert her in her more serious studies, he taught her 
the Italian language, and read over with her several poets 
of that nation, and particularly Tasso, in the perusal of 
whom she very acutely remarked the difference between 
that poet and Virgil and Homer. She sometimes took the 
liberty of disputing with her father, particularly, on one 
occasion, respecting Vaugelas's translation of Quintus 
Curtius. Her father was charmed with it, but mademoi- 
selle le Fevre ventured to point out some negligences of 
style, errors in language, and passages ill translated ; and 
he was frequently obliged to own himself of the same opi- 
nion with her. These little contests, however, gave him 
great satisfaction, and he was extremely surprized to 
find so delicate a taste, and so uncommon a penetration, 
in so young a person. 

In 1673, the year after her father died, she went to 
Paris, and was tiieii engaged in an edition of Callimachus, 
which she published in 1674, in 4to. Some sheets of that 
work having been shewn to Huetius, preceptor to the dau- 
phin, and other learned men at court, a proposal was made 
to her of preparing some Latin authors for the use of the 
dauphin ; which, though she rejected at first, she at last 



D A C I E R. 203 

Imdertook, and published an edition of Florus in 1674, in 
4to. Her reputation being now spread over all Europe, 
Christina of Sweden ordered count Coningsmark lo make 
her a compliment in her name ; upon whicli mademoiselle 
le Fevre sent the queen a Latin letter with her edition of 
Florus. Her majesty wrote her an obliging answer ; and 
not long after wrote her another letter, to persuade her to 
quit the proiestant religion, and inade her considerable 
otfers to settle her at court. This, however, she declined, 
and proceeded in the task she had undertaken, of pub- 
lishing authors for the use of the dauphin, the next of 
which was *' Sextus Aurelius Victor," Paris, 1681, 4to ; 
in which same year also she published a French translation 
of the poems of Anacreon and Sappho with notes, which 
met with great applause ; so great, as to make Boileau de- 
clare, that it ought to deter any person from attempting 
to translate those poems into verse. She published, for 
the use of the dauphin, Eutropius, Paris, 1683, 4to, which 
was afterwards printed at Oxford, 1696, 8vo ; and Dictys 
Cretensis & Dares Phrygius, Paris, 1684, 4to, which was 
afterwards printed, cum notis variorum, at Amst. 1702, 8vo. 
She had also published French translations of the Amphi- 
tryo, Epidicus, and fludens, comedies of Plautus, Paris, 
1683, 3 vols. 12mo, and of the Plutus and Clouds of 
Aristophanes, 1684, 12mo, with notes, and an examen of 
all these plays according to the rules of the theatre. She 
was so charmed with the Clouds of Aristophanes, it seems, 
that, as we learn from herself, she had read it over 200 
times with pleasure. 

In the midst of all these various publications, so close to 
each other, she married Dacier, with whom she had been 
brought up in her father's house from her earliest years. 
This happened, as we have already observed in our ac- 
count of that gentleman, in 1683 ; though some have con- 
troverted not only the date, but even the marriage itself; 
and have surmised that she was previously married to one 
John Lesnier, a bookseller of her father's, and that she 
ran away from him for the sake of Dacier, with whom she. 
Mas never married in any regular way. But it is hardly- 
possible to conceive, that so extraordinary a circumstance 
in the history of this celebrated lady must not, if it were 
true, have been notorious and incontested. We are there- 
fore apt to admit father Niceron's solution of this difficulty; 
^'bo observes, upon this occasion, that " nothing is more 



204 D A C I E R. 

common than for a person, who abandons any party, to be 
exposed to the calumies of those whom they have quitted,'* 
and to suffer by them. Madame Dacier, soon after her 
marriage, declared to the duke of Montausier and the bi- 
shop of Meaux, who had been her friends, a design of re- 
conciling herself to the church of Rome ; but as M. Dacier 
was not yet convinced of the reasonableness of such a 
change, they thought proper to retire to Castres in 1684, 
in order to examine the controversy between the protes- 
tants and papists. They at last determined in favour of 
the latter; and, as already noticed, made their public ab- 
juration in Sept. 1685. This, in the opinion of her catholic 
admirers, might probably occasion the above-mentioned 
rumour, so much to the disadvantage of madame Dacier, 
and for which there was probably very little foundation. 
After they had become catholics, however, the duke of 
Montausier and the bishop of Meaux recommended them 
at court ; and the king settled a pension of 1500 iivres 
' upon M. Dacier, and another of 500 upon his lady. The 
patent was expedited in November; and, upon the advice' 
which they received of it, they returned to Paris, where 
they resumed their studies ; but before proceeding in our 
account of madame Dacier's publications, it is necessary 
to do justice to the liberality of her patron the duke de 
Montausier. W'e are informed, that in 1682 this lady 
having dedicated a book to the king of France, she could 
not find any person at court, who would venture to intro- 
duce her to his majesty, in order to present it, because 
she was at that time a protestant. The duke of Montau- 
sier, being informed of this, offered his service to introduce 
her to the king, and taking her in his coach, presented 
her and her book to his majesty ; who told him with an air 
of resentment, that he acted wrong in supporting persons 
of that lady's religion ; and that for his ])art he would for- 
bid his name to be prefixed to any book written by Hugue- 
nots ; for which purpose he would give orders to seize all 
the copies of mademoiselle le Fevre's book. The duke 
answered with that freedom with which he always spoke 
to the king, and in which no person else would presume to 
follow him : " Is it thus, sir, that you favour polite lite- 
rature ? I declare to you frankly, a king ought not to be 
a bigot." He added then, that he would thank the lady 
in his majesty's jianie, and make her a present of an hun- 
dred pistoles; and that he would leave it to the king to 
pay him, or not pay him ; and he did as he had said. 



D A C I E R. 20i 

In 1688 she published a French translation of Terence's 
comedies, with notes, in 8 vols. 12 mo. She is said to 
Lave risen at live o'clock in the morning, during a very 
sharp winter, and to have dispatched four of the comedies; 
but, upon looking them over some months after, to have 
flung them into the fire, being much dissatisfied with them, 
and to have begun the translation again. She brought the 
work then to the highest perfection ; and, in the opinion 
of the Frencii critics, even reached the graces and noble 
simplicity of the original. It was a circumstance greatly 
to her honour, that, having taken the liberty to change the 
scenes and acts, her disposition of them was afterwards 
confirmed by an excellent MS. in the king of France's 
library. Tlie best and most finished edition of this univer- 
sally-admired performance, is that of 1717; which, how- 
ever, was greatly improved afterwards, by adopting the 
emendations in Bentley's edition. She had a hand in the 
translation of Marcus Antoninus, which her husband pub- 
lished in 1691, and likewise in the specimen of a transla- 
tion of Plutarch's Lives, which he published three years 
after; but being now intent on her translation of Homer, 
she left her husband to finish that of Plutarch. lu 1711 
appeared her Homer, translated into French, with notes, 
in 3 vols. 12mo; and the translation is reckoned elegant 
and faithful. In 1714 she published the Causes of the Cor- 
ruption of Taste. This treatise was written against M. de 
la Motte, who, in the preface to his Iliad, had declared 
very little esteem for that poem. Madame Dacier, shocked 
with the liberty he had taken with her favourite author, 
immediately began this defence of him, in which she did 
not treat La Motte with the greatest civility. In 1716 she 
published a defence of Homer, against the apology of 
father Ilardouin, or, a sequel of the causes of the corrup- 
tion of Taste : in which she attempts to shew, that father 
Hardouin, in endeavouring to apologize for Homer, has 
done him a greater injury than ever he received from his 
most declared enemies. Besides these two pieces, she had 
prepared a third against La Motte ; hut suppressed it, after 
M. de Vallincourt had procured a reconciliation beiweea 
them. The same year also she published the Odyssey of 
Homer, translated from the Greek, with notes, in 3 vols. 
12mo, and this, as far as we can find, was her last appear- 
ance as an author. She was in a very infirm state of 
health the last two years of her life ; and died, after a very 



206 D A C I E R. 

painful sickness, Aug. 17, 1720, being 69 years of age. 
She bad two daughters and a son, of whose education she 
took the strictest care; but the son died young : one of 
her daughters became a nun ; and the otlier, who is said 
to have had united in her all the virtues and accomplish- 
ments of her sex, died at 1 8 years of age. Her mother 
has said high things of her, in the preface to her transla- 
tion of the Iliad. 

Madame Dacier was a lady of great virtue as well as 
learning. She was remarkable for firmness, generosity, 
good nature, and piety. The causes of her change of re- 
ligion are not well explained, but she appears to have 
been at least sincere. Her modesty was so great, that she 
never sjjoke of subjects of literature ; and it was with some 
difficulty that she could at any time be led to do it. There 
is an anecdote related of her, which her countrymen say 
sets this modesty in a very strong light, although others 
may think the proof equivocal. It is cui^tomary with the 
scholars in the northern parts of Europe, who visit, when 
they travel, the learned in other countries, to carry with 
them a book, in which they desire such persons to write 
their names, with some sentence or other. A learned 
German paid a visit to madame Dacier, and requested her to 
write her name and sentence in his book. She seeins: in 
it the names of the greatest scholars in Europe, told him, 
that she should be ashamed to put her name among those 
of so many illustrious persons ; and that such presumption 
would by no means become her. The gentleman insisting 
upon it, she was at last prevailed upon ; and taking her 
pen, wrote her name with this verse of Sophocles, Tvvai^p 
h a-iyn (p'epti ko(T(/.ov, that is, " Silence is the ornament of the 
female sex." When likewise she was solicited to publish 
a translation of some books of scripture, with remarks 
upon them, she always answered, that " a woman ought 
to read, and meditate upon the scriptures, and regu- 
late her conduct by then), and to keep silence, agree- 
ably to the command of St. Paul." Among her other lite- 
rary honours, the academy of llicovrati at Padua chose her 
one of their body in 1684.' 

DAHL (Michael), a painter, was born at Stockholm 
in 1656, and came to London at an early age, being intro- 
duced into this country by an English merchant, but he 
afterwards travelled to Paris, and resided there some time. 

1 Gen. Diet. — Niceron, vol. III.— >Saxii Onomagticon, 



D A H L. 207 

He then visited Italy, where he painted, amongst others, 
the portrait of queen Christina of Sweden, In 1G88 he 
returned to England, where he acquired very considerable 
reputation as a portrait painter, and was no contemptible 
rival of sir Godfrey Kneller, with whom he lived in habits 
of friendship. He died in London in 1743 at the advanced 
ao-e of 87 years. His portraits of Addison, queen Anne, 
prince George of Denmark, the duke of Marlborough, and 
the duke of Ormond, have been engraved.* 

DAILLE (John), a minister of the church of Paris, and 
one of the ablest advocates the protestants ever had, was 
born at Chatelleraut, Jan 6, 1594; but carried soon after 
to Poitiers, where his father usually lived, on account of 
the office which he bore of receiver of the deposits there. 
His father designed him for business, and proposed to 
leave him his office ; but his strong attachment to books 
made him prefer a literary education, and when his son had 
attained his eleventh year, he sent him to S. Maixent in 
Poitou, to learn the first rudiments of learning. He con- 
tinued his studies at Poitiers, Chatelleraut, and Saumur; 
and, having finished his classical course in the last of those 
towns, he entered on logic at Poitiers, at the age of six- 
teen, and finished his course of philosophy at Saumur 
under the celebrated Mark Duncan, He began his theo- 
logical studies at Saumur in 1612; which, says his son, 
was indisputably one of the most fortunate years in his 
whole life, as in October of it, he was admitted into the 
family of the illustrious mons. du Plessis Mornay, who did 
him the honour to appoint him tutor to two of his grand- 
sons. Here, though he discharged the trust he had under- 
taken very well, yet it is said that he received more in- 
struction from the grandfather than he communicated to the 
grandsons. Mornay was extremely pleased with him, fre- 
quently read with him, and concealed from him nothing of 
whatever he knew ; so that some have been ready to im- 
pute the great figure Mr, Daille afterwards made, to the 
assistance he received here; and it is but reasonable to 
suppose, that Mornay's advice and instructions contributed 
not a little to it. 

Daille, having lived seven years with so excellent a 
master, set out on his travels with his pupils in the autumn 
of 1619, and went to Geneva; and from thence through 

' Walpole's Anecdotes. 



208 D A I L L E. 

Piedmont and Lombardy to Venice, where they spent the 
winter. During their abode in Italy, a melancholy affair 
happened, whicli perplexed him not a little. One of his 
pupils fell sick at Mantua ; and he removed him with all 
speed to Padua, where those of the protestant religion 
have more liberty, but here he died ; and the difficulty 
was, to avoid the observation of the inquisitors, and re- 
move the corpse to France, to the burial-place of his an- 
cestors. After much consideration, no more eligible plan 
presented itself than to send him under the disguise of a 
bale of merchandize goods, or a cargo of books ; and in this 
manner the corpse was conveyed to France, under the 
care of two of his servants ; not, however, without the ne- 
cessary safe-conduct and passports, which were procured 
for him from the republic by the celebrated father Paul. 
He then continued his travels with his other pupil, visiting 
Switzerland, Germany, Flanders, Holland, England ; and 
returned to France towards the end of 1621. The son re- 
lates, that he had often heard his father regret those two 
years of travelling, which he reckoned as lost, because he 
could have spent them to better purpose in his closet ; 
and, it seems, he would have regretted them still more, if 
he had not enjoyed the privilege at Venice of a familiar 
acquaintance with father Paul, the only fruit which he 
said he had reaped from that journey. — M. du Plessis, 
with whom that father corresponded by letters, had recom- 
mended to him in a very particular manner both his grand- 
sons and their governor; so that M. Daille was immedi- 
ately admitted into his confidence, and there passed not a 
day without his enjoying some hours discourse with him. 
The good father even conceived such an affection for M. 
Daille, that he used his utmost endeavours with a French 
physician of the protestant religion, and one of his inti- 
mate friends, to prevail with him to stay at Venice. This 
circumstance of Daille's life, among many others, has been 
thought no inconsiderable proof, that father Paul concealed, 
under the habit of a monk, a temper wholly devoted to 
protestantism and its professors. 

Daille was received minister in 1623, and first exercised 
his office in the family of du Plessis Mornay : but this did 
not last long ; for that lord fell sick a little after, and died 
the same year, in the arms of the new pastor. Daille spent 
the following year in digesting some papers of his, which 
were afterwards published in two volumes, under the title 



D A I L L E. 20y 

of "Memoirs." In 1625 he was appointed minister of 
the church of Savunur ; and the year after removed to that 
of Paris. Here he spe-^t the rest of his life, and diiVused 
great liglit over the whole body, as well by his sermons, as 
by his books of controversy. In 1628 he wrote his cele- 
brated book, " Ue I'usage des Peres," or, " Of the Use 
of the Fathers*;" but, on account of some troubles which 
seemed to be coming upon the protestants in France, it 
was not published till 1631. Bayle has pronounced this 
work a master- piece ; but it has been attacked with great 
severity by some, as tending to lessen the just respect due 
to the fathers, and to the views of religious opinions which 
tiiey exhil)it, and which are at least important in point of 
historical evidence. On the other hand, some eminent 
scholars, and orthodox chuixhmen in England have ac- 
knowledged its high worth and merit; and so early as 1651 
an English translation of it was published by the learned 
Thomas ISmith, B. D. fellow of Christ's college in Cam- 
bridge. 7\n advertisement is prefixed to it, from which we 
transcribe a passage or two, as illustrating the translator's 
opinion and views of the work: "The translation of this 
tract," says Mr. Smith, " hath been often attempted, and 
oftener desired by many noble personages of this and 
other nations : among others by sir Lucius Cary late lord 
viscount Palkland, who, with his dear friend Mr. Chilling- 
worth, made very much use of it in all their writings against 
the Romanists. But the papers of that learned nobleman, 
wherein this trans!;ition was half finished, were long since 
involved in the common loss. Those few, which have 
escaped it, and the press, make a very honourable men- 
tion of this monsieur, whose acquaintance the said lord 
was wont to say, was worth a voyage to Paris. In page 203 
of his Reply, he hath these words: * This observation of 
mine hath been confirmed by consideration of what hath 
been so temperately, learnedly, and judiciously written by 
M. Daill6, our protestant Perron.' — I shall add but one 
lord's testimony more, namely, the lord George Digby's, 
in his late Letters concerning Religion, in these words, 
p. 27, 28: 'The reasons prevalent with me, whereon an 
enquiring and judicious person should be obliged to rely 
and acquiesce, are so amply and so learnedly set down by 

* Dr. Fleetwood, bishop of Ely, they were of no use at alt." Richard* 
said of this book, that " he thought the soniaiia, p. 30o. 
author had pretty sufficiently proved 

Vol. XI. P 



210 D A I L L E. 

M. Daillc in his * Emploi des Peres,' that I tliink little, 
which is material and weighty, can be said on this subject, 
that his rare and piercing observation hath not anticipated.' 
And for myself, 1 must ingenuously profess, that it was the 
reading of this rational book, which hrst convinced me 
that my study in the French language was not ill employed; 
which hath also enabled me to commend this to the 
world, as faithfully translated l)y a judicious hand." Mr. 
Mettayer, who was minister of St. Quintin, published a 
Latin translation of this work 3 which translation was re- 
vised and augmented with new observations, by Daille 
himself, and was printed at Geneva in 16.5G. 

In 163.3 he published another work of general concern, 
entitled *' L'Apologie de nos Eglises," or, " An Apology 
for the reformed Churches ;" in which he vindicates, with 
much learning and argument, their separation from the 
church of Rome, from the imputation of schism, which 
was usually brought against them. This work was also 
translated into English by Mr. Smith, in 1658; as it was 
into Latin the same year by Daille himself, and printed at 
Amsterdcim in Svo. It was much censured by the clergy 
of France, as soon as it was published, and some were 
employed to write against it. Daille wrote two or three 
little pieces in defence of it, which were afterwards print- 
ed with it in the Latin edition. That Daillci was a very 
"voluminous writer, will not seem strange, when it is con- 
sidered that he liveil long, was very laborious, and enjoyed 
a good state of health. He was endued with the qualitica- 
tions of a writer in a most eminent degree ; and had this 
singular advantage, that his understanding was not im- 
paired with age : for it is observable, that there is no less 
strength and fire in his two volumes " De objecto cultfts 
religiosi," the first of which was published when he was 70 
years old, than in any of his earlier works. 

He assisted at the national synod, which vvas held at 
Alen^on in 1637 : and his authority and advice contributed 
much to quiet the disputes, which were then warmly agi- 
tated among the protestants concerning iniivcrsal grace. 
He declared strenuously for universal grace ; and after- 
wards published at Amsterdam, in 165.5, a Latin work 
against Frederic Spanheim, the divinity jjrofessor at Ley- 
den, entitled " An apology for the synods of Alencon and 
Charenton." This work rekindled the war among tiie pro- 
testant divines ; yet Daillc endeavoured to clear himself, 



D A I L L E. 211 

by saying, that his book had been published vvitbont his 
kno\vled<»-c. Ntnertheless, lie answered the celebrated 
Samuel des Mart'ts, professor of Groningeu, which pro- 
duced a sliort, but very warm contest between them, in 
which Daiile's spirit of controversy has not been approved 
even l)y his friends. He died at Paris, April 15, 1670, 
having never experienced tliroughout his life any illness, 
except that in 1 (),50 he was suddenly seized with a lethargic 
or apopletic disoriler, in which he lay 10 or 11 days, ap- 
parently without a possibility of recovering. He left a 
high reputation behind him ; and the protestants used to- 
say in France, that " they had no better writer since Calviti 
than M. Daillc." In 1720, M. Kngelschall, a Roman 
catholic clergyman at Dresden, published proposals fur a 
complete edition of Daiile's works, for which it is probable 
lie had no encouragement, as we have not been able to lind 
such a publication in any catalogue ; but his proposals, 
which are drawn up with great candour, will at least enable 
us to give a more correct list of Daiile's works, with the 
best editions. 1. " De Usu Patrum," Geneva, 1056. 2. 
*' Apologia ecclesiarum reformatarum," Amst. 3. *' Fides 
ex S. Scripturis demonstrata," Gen. IGGO. 4. " Exameii 
SententiiTB Tbeoph. Bracheti Milleterii super conciliatione 
Controversiaruuj religionis," Paris, 1637. 5. " De Patrum 
fide circa imagines," Leyden, 1642. 6. " De pcenis et 
satisfactionibus humanis," Amst. 1649. 7. " Pseudepi- 
grapha Apostolica de octo libris constitutionum Aposto- 
licarum," Harderw. 1653. 8. " De jcjuniis et quadra- 
gesima," Daventer, 1654. 9.. " Pro duabus Synodis, Alen- 
Kon et Carenton. Apologia," vVmst. 1655. 10. <' De con- 
firmatione et cxtrcma uuctione," Genev. 1659. li. " De 
confessione auriculari," Genev. 1661. 12. " Adversus 
Latinorum traditionem de cultus religiosi objecto, dispu- 
tatio," Gen. 1661. 13. " De Scriptis, qua? sub Dionysii 
Areopagii et Igiiatii nominibus circnmferunuir," Gen. 1666. 
14. " De cultibus Latinorum religiosis Libri Novem," 
Gen. 1671. In all those he has been thought to be very 
perspicuous, both with regard to the expression, anil to 
the disposition of his subject. He was reproached by one 
of his adversaries with stealina: several ihino-s frou) Dr. 
Davenant, m his " Exposition of the Epistle to the Colos- 
sians ;" bnt he answered the charge. 

He married in the Lower Poitou, in May 1625 ; and his 
wife died the 3 1st of that month, 1631, leaving him only 

? 2 



212 D A I L L E. 

one son, born in the house of the Dutch ambassador, Oct. 
31, 162S. She had taken refuge there, because the pro- 
testants were afraid lest the news of the taking of Rochelle 
might excite popular tumults. This only son, whose name 
was Hadrian Daille, was received a minister in 1633. He 
had continued his theoloa:ical studies with his father for 
several vears, when the consistory of Rochelle invited him 
thither. Five years after, that is, in 1658, he was chosen 
a minister of Paris, and became a collea2;ue with his father. 
He was alive at the revocation of the edict of Nainz, and, 
then retiring to Switzerland, died at Zurich in May 1690. 
AW his MSS. among: which were several works of his fa- 
ther's, were carried to the public library. He wrote that 
abridgement of his father's life, from which we have chiefly 
collected the materials of this article. ' 

DAIRVAL. See BAUDELOT. 

DAKINS (William), one of the translators of the Bible, 
of whose family history we have no account, was educated 
at \V'estminster school, whence beinii removed to Cam- 
bridge, he was admitted of Trinity college May 8, 15S7 ; 
chosen junior fellow there Oct. 3, 1593, and senior fellow 
March 16th following. In 1601 he took the degree of 
B. D. and was sworn Greek lecturer of that college (an 
annual office) Oct. 2, 1602. In July 1604 he was chosen 
professor of divinity in Gresham college, to which he was 
recommended, in tlie most honourable terms, not only by 
the vice-cliancellor and several heads of houses at Cam- 
bridge, but also by some of the nobility, and even by king 
James I. in a letter to the Gresham committee. His ma- 
jesty's object seems to have been that Mr. Dakins should 
not be without a suitable provision while employed on the 
new translation of the Bible, undertaken by royal order, 
and for a part of which important work Mr. Dakins was 
considered as excellently qualified by his skill in the 
Oriental lancruafjes. The translators beinsf divided into 
six classes, two of which were to meet at \\'estnnnster, 
two at Oxford, and two at Cambridge, Mr. Dakins was one 
of those at Westminster, and his part was the Epistles of 
St. Paul and the canonical Epistles. He did not, however, 
live to see the work completed, as he died in Feb. 1607, 
a few months after being chosen junior dean of Trinity 
college. ' 

• NiceroH, vol. Ilf.— Gen. Diet. — Bibl. Germani/jue, »ol. II. — Biouni'i Cen- 
Jura.^-Saxii Oaomast. » Ward'* Gnsham Frofessorj. 



DALE. 213 

DALE (Samuel), I\L D. an antiquary and botanist, was 
originally an apothecary at Braintree in Essex, until about 
1730, when he became a licentiate of the college of phy- 
sicians, and a fellow of the royal society, according to 
Pulteney, but his name does not appear in Dr. Thomson's 
list. About the time above-mentioned. Dr. Dale is sup- 
posed to have settled at Bocking, where he practised as a 
physician until his decease June 6, 1739, in the eightieth 
year of his age. He was buried in the dissenters' burying 
ground at Bocking. His separate publications are, 1. 
" Pharmacologia, seu Manuductio ad Materiam Medicam," 
1693, 8vo, republished in 1705, 1710, 8vo, and 1737, 4to, a 
much improved edition. It was also four times printed 
abroad. The first edition was one of the earliest rational 
books on the subject, and the author attended so much to 
subsequent publications and improvements, as to give his 
last edition the importance of a new work. Scarcely in 
any author, says Dr. Pulteney, is there a more copious 
collection of synonyms, a circumstance which, indepen- 
dent of much other intrinsic worth, will long continue the 
use of the book with those who wish to pursue the history 
of any article through all the former writers on the subject. 
2. " The Antiquities of Harwich and Dover Court," 1730, 
4to, originally written by Silas Taylor, gent, about the year 
1676. Tliat part of this work which regards natural his- 
tory is so copious and accurate as to render the book a real 
acquisition to science. Dale was also the author of various 
communications to the royal society, which were published 
in the Philosophical Transactions. * 

DALECHAMP (James), a learned French physician 
and indefatigable botanist, was born at Caen in 1 5 1 3, studied 
medicine and botany at Montpelier, was admitted doctor in 
medicine in 1547, and died at Lyons, where he had long 
practised physic, in 1588. He published several elaborate 
translations, particularly of the fifteen books of Athenoeus 
into Latin, in 1552, in 2 vols. fol. illustrated with notes 
and figures ; and some of the works of Galen and Paul 
Egineta into French. In 1556 he published a translation 
of " Coelius Aurelianus de Morbis acutis ;" and in 1569, 
" Chirurgie Fran^oise, avec plusieurs figures d'instrumens,'* 
8vo, which has been several times reprinted. He princi- 
pally followed the practice of Par^e, from whose work he 

' Pulteney's Sketches of Botany. 



21 !■ D A L E C H A M P. 

borrowed the figures of the instruments ; but he has added 
a translation into French of the seventh book of Paree, with 
annotations, and some curious cases occurring in his own 
practice. He was also the editor of an edition of Pliny 
with notes, published in 1587. His first work, acc<rding 
to Haller, was an 8vo edition of Rucllivis's Commentary on 
Dioscorides, which appeared at Lyons in 1552, enriched 
by Dalechamp with thirty small figures of plants, at that 
time but little known. But his principal performance in 
this branch was an universal history of plants, in Latin, 
^vith above two thousand five hundred nooclen cuts, be- 
sides repetitions, published after his death in two folio vo- 
lumes. The publisher, Wdbam Rouille, seems to take 
upon hiuiself the chief credit of collecting and arranging 
the materials of this great work, though he allows tl)at 
Dalechamp laid its first foundations. Haller says the latter 
■was engaged in it for thirty years ; his aim being to collect 
together all the botanical knowledge of his predecessors, 
and enrich it with his own discoveries. He employed John 
Bauhin, then a young man, and resident at Lyons, to as- 
sist him ; but Baulnn lieing obliged on account of his 
religion to leave France for Switzerland, hke many other 
good and great men of that and the following century, the 
work in question was undertaken by Des Moulins, and 
soon afterwards Dalechamp died. It is often quoted by 
the title of" Historia Lugdunensis," and hence the merits 
of its original projector are overlooked, as well as the faults 
arising from its mode of compilation, which are in many 
instances so great as to render it useless. A French trans- 
lation was published in 1615, and again in 1653. Besides 
these Dalechatnp ]:)ublislicd, 1. " Carlius Aurelianus de 
iiioibis chronicis," Loud. 1579, Svo ; and 2. An edition of 
the works of the two Senecas, the orator and the philoso- 
pher, with notes and various readings, Geneva, 1G2S, 2 
vols. fol. ' 

DALEN (CoRNELiu.s v.\n), an eminent engraver, who 
flourished about the year l6i-0, was a native of Holland ; 
but under what master he learnt the art of engraving, is 
uncertain. It is diflicult to form a proper judgment of his 
merit; for sometimes his prints resemble those of Corne- 
lius Vischer; of Lucas Vosterman ; of P. Pontius; of 

> Miireri. — Ilillnr Tiibl. P.ot. — Freheri Tlicalrum. — Baillet Jugemene.— 
KeeB':; Cyclopa.'dia, — i<axij Onouiast. 



D A L E N. 21J 

Bolswert ; and other masters. A set of antique statues 
engraved by liini, are in a bold, freestyle, as if founded 
upon that of Goltzius ; otliers a<ji,ain seem imitations of that 
ol Krancis Poilly. In all these diH'erent manners he has 
succeeded ; and tliey plaiidy manifest the great command 
he had with his graver, for he worked with that instrument 
only. He engraved a great variety of portraits, some of 
which are very valnable, and form the best as well as the 
largest part of his works. ' 

DA LIN (Olaus von), a learned Swede, who was born 
at VVird)erga, in Holland, in 1708, deservedly obtained 
the appellation of the fatlicr of Swedish poetry by two 
poems written in that language; the one entitled "The 
Liberty of Sweden," published in J 743; the other the 
tragedy of " Brindiilda." He successively raised himself 
to be preceptor to prince Gustavus, counsellor in ordinary 
of the chancery, knight of the northern star, and at last to 
the dignity of chancellor of the court. By command of 
the king he engaged to compile a history of his own coun- 
try from the earliest period to the present time, which he 
accomplished in tl)ree volumes quarto ; and which was af- 
terwards translated into the German language, Sweden is 
indebted to him also for a great number of epistles, satires, 
fables, thoughts, and some panegyrics on the members of' 
the royal academy of sciences, of which he was a principal- 
ornament : all these have been collected and printed in 
6 vols. There is likewise by him a translation of the 
president Montesquieu, on the Canses of the grandeur and 
declension of the Romans. Von Dalin died in August 
1763, leaving a reputation for literature, which his works 
are thought to conhrm. * 

DALLINGTON (Sir Robert), as Fuller informs us, 
was born at Geddington, in the county of Northanipton, 
and bred a bible-clerk in Corpus Christi college, Cam- 
bridge; but \V'ood has u)ade him a Greek scholar in Pem- 
broke-iiall. As a contirmation, however, of the former, ' 
he published " A Book of Epitaphs, made upon the death 
of the right worshij)ful sir William Buttes, knt." in loSI), 
which were chiefly composed by himself and the members 
of Corpus. It appears that he was afterwards placed in a 
school in Norfolk, where, duller says, he gained so much 
nionev as enabled him to travel over France and It;ilv. 

> Strutt. - Diet. Hist, 



216 D A L L I N G T O N. 

Concerning Italy, we have a specimen of his accurate ob- 
servations in his " Survey of the Great Duke's State of 
Tuscany in the year 1596," which was inscribed to hmi by 
the publisher, Edward Blount, in 1605, 4to ; and in the 
same year appeared his " Method of Travel, shewed by 
taking a view of France as it stood in 159)5," 4to. In 
the preface he says that he was at the last jubilee at Rome, 
and that " this discourse was written long since, when the 
now lord secretary was then lord ambassador, and intended 
for the private use of an hon. gent." The second edition, 
published in 1629, contains the clause of Gujcciardini de- 
faced by the inquisition, consisting of sjxty-one pages. 
After his return he became secretary to Francis earl of 
llutland, then one of the |)rivy chamber to prince Charles, 
and master of the Charter-house, where he introduced into 
the school the custom of versifying on passages of the holy 
scripture; about which time he had also ihe honour of 
knighthood conferred upon him. He was incorpqrated 
A.M. at Oxford in 1601, and published " Aphorismes, 
Civil and Military ; amplified with authorities, and exem- 
plified with history out of the first quaterne of Fr. Guic- 
ciardini," Lond. 1615, fol. in which he is said to have 
*' shown both wit and judgment." He died in the latter 
end of the year 1637, upwards of seventy-six years old, 
and was buried in the Charter-house chapel. 

According to the records of the Charter-house, he was 
appointed master July 9, 1624, when he was only in dea- 
con's orders, which was through the recommendation " of 
the most excellent prince of Wales." He is described as 
a man " of good merit and deserte." The governors re- 
solved at the same time that no future master should be 
elected under forty years of age ; or who was not in holy 
orders of priesthood two years before his election ; and 
having not more than one living, and that within thirty 
miles of London. Sir Robert had grown so very infirm in 
1636, that the governors ordered three persons as his as- 
sistants. ' 

DALMATIN (George), a very learned Lutheran divine 
of the sixteenth century, of whose personal history little is 
known, deserves notice as the translator of Luther's Ger- 
man Bible into the Sclavonian, which language being 

» Masters's Hist, of C. C. C.C. — Wood's AtU. vol. I.— Malcolm's LondiDium. — 
Cole's MS Atheuae in Brit, Mus. 



D A L M A T I N. 217 

spoken in Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, the states of 
those countries came to a determination that this Bible 
should be printed for their use. They first employed John 
Manlius, a [)rinter of Lay bach, who was the first that 
printed the Sclavonic in Roman letters: but while Manlius 
was making his calculations of expence, &c. the archduke 
Charles of Austria forbad him to print it. This appears to 
have happened in 1 580. The states, however, only changed 
their determination so far as to have it printed elsewhere, 
and sent Dalmatin for that purpose to Gratz, where he was 
to correct the press, after the coj)y had been carefully re- 
vised at Laybach by him, in conjunction with other emi- 
nent divines and Oriental scholars. But, finding that no 
impression of this Bible would be permitted in the Austrian 
dominions, the states sent, in April 1583, Dalmatin, and 
another divine, Adam Bohoritsch, to Wittemberg, with a 
recommendation to the elector of Saxony, and the work 
being begun in May 1583, was finished Jan. 1, 1584. They 
had agreed with Samuel Seelfisch, bookseller at Wittem- 
berg, that he should print fifteen hundred copies, each 
to contain two hundred and eighty sheets of the largest 
paper, on a fine character, with wooden cuts ; for which 
the states of Carniola were to pay after the rate of twenty- 
florins for every bale of five hundred sheets. The expences 
ot the impression of this Bible amounted to about eight 
thousand fiorins : towards which the states of Styria gave a 
thousand florins, those of Carinthia nine hundred, and the 
evangelic states of Carniola six thousand one hundred. 
These particulars may not be unacceptable to typographi- 
cal students, as it is but seldom we have access to the his- 
tory of early printing. Of Dalmatin we are only told that 
he aiterwards was put in possession of the cure of St. Kha- 
zaim, or St. Catiani, near Aurspergh, by Christopher, ba- 
ron of Aurspergh, in 1585, who, when the popish party 
banished Dalmatin in 1598, kept him concealed in his 
house ; and a vault under the stable before the castle used 
long to be shewn as the hole of the preacher." ' 

DALRYMPLE (Alkxander), an eminent hydrographer, 
F. R. S. and F. S. A. was born July 24, 1737, at New 
Hailes, near Edinburgh, the seat of his father sir James 
Dalrymple, bart. of Hailes. His mother, lady Christian, 
daughter of the earl of Haddington, a very amiable and 

' Gen, Diet.— Le Long Bibl. Sacr. 



218 D A L R Y M P L E. 

accomplished woman, bore sixteen children, all of whom 
Alexander, wlio was the seventh son, survived. He was 
educated at tlie school of Haddington, nnder Mr. David 
Youn"-; but as he left school before he was fourteen years 
of age, and never was at the nniversity, his. schoUistic en- 
dowments were very limitecL At school hfe'liad the credit 
of being a good scholar ; and, after he left school, his 
eldest brother was wont to make him translate, off hand, 
some of the odes of Horace ; so that he was, for his years, 
a tolerable proficient in Latin : but going al)road, entirely 
his own master, before he was sixteen years of age, he 
neglected his Latin ; and, as he says, never found so 
much use for it as to induce him to take any pains to 
recover it. 

Sir James Dalrymple died in 1750; and the hon. gene- 
ral St. Clair having married sir James's sister, a very sen- 
sible and accomplished woman (the relict of sir John 
Baird, bart.), in 1752, from his intimacy with alderman 
Baker, then chairman of the East India company, general 
St. Clair got Mr. Baker's promise to appoint his nephew, 
IMr. Dalrymple, a writer in the company's service ; the 
young man having conceived a strong desire of going to 
the East Indies, by reading Nieuhofl's Vo3-agcs, and a 
novel of that time, called Joe Thomson. He accordingly 
left Scotland in the spring of 17.52, with his brother sir 
David, who affectionately accompanied him to London. 
He was put to Mr. Kinross's academy, at Forty-hill, 
near Enfield, for some months antecedent to his appoint- 
ment in the company's service. He tells us he was obliged 
to Mr. Kinross for his great kindness and attention to him, 
and received much jjood instruction for his conduct throuoh 
life ; by which he greatly profited : but was too short a 
time at that academy to learn much of what was the object 
of sending him there, viz. writing and merchants' accounts; 
which are, at least were at that time, the only (pialifica- 
tions the East India company thought requisite in their 
servants : and the absurdity of supposing a boy of sixteen 
from an acad(;my competent to keep a set of merchants' 
books not being considered, some demur was made to Mr. 
Kinross's certificate of this part of Mr. Dalrymple's educa- 
tion not being expressed in terms sufficiently direct; how- 
ever, this was not insisted on. 

On the 1st of November, 1752, he was appointed a 
writer in the East India company's service, and on the 



D A L li Y M P L E, 219 

8th of November, stationed on the Madras establishment. 
Alderman Baker ditiqualilied early the next year; so that 
it was by a very aecicUMital contingonce that i\Jr. Dah'} ni])le 
went to India, Ijis tamil}' havinjj,- no India connexions ; inure 
jDarticuhirly as he wanted a few months of sixteen years of 
age, which was tlie age reqnircd for a writer to l)e : and 
his n)other lady Christian strongly objected to his father's 
son even tacitly assenting to countenance what was untrue; 
and she was not quite satisiied with being assured that it 
was with alderman Baker's concurrence and approbation ; 
it being urged, that the spirit of the regulation was to pre- 
vent infants being introduced into the service as writers, 
and not to preclude a person for the difference of a few 
months in age. " This," says our author, " is the oidy 
instance in wiiich Alexander Dalrymple is conscious of hav- 
ing been accessary to cheating the company-, if it can be 
so termed,'" 

About the middle of December, he embarked at Graves-^ 
end on board the Suffolk Indiaman, commanded by captain 
William Wilson, and the vessel sailed from the Downs 
Dec. 25, 1752, and arrived at Madias on May 11. At 
first Mr. Dairy mple was put under the store-keeper, but 
was soon after removed to the secretary's office, and on 
lord Pigot's being appointed governor, was noticed by his 
lordship with great kindness, as well as by Mr. Orme, the 
historian, then a member of council and accountant, who 
contiiuied his friendship to him during the remainder of 
Ijis life. While in the secretary's office, examining the 
old records, to quality himself, by the knowledgi.' of them, 
to fill the office of secretary, which he was in succession to 
expect, he found the commerce of the eastern islands was 
an object of great consideration with the company, and he 
was inspired with an earnest desire to recover that impor- 
tant object for this country. 

A favourable o|)portnnity offered for putting this info 
train : his old friend captain Wilson, who was appointed 
by the East India company commodore of all tht ir ships 
and vessels, and commander of the Pitt, of 50 guns, for 
his good and gallant conduct, arrived in September 1758, 
having on board sir William (then colonel) l)ra|)er, and 
part of his regiment. 7'he Pitt was destineil for China. 
Commodore Wilson, whose sagacity and maritime know- 
ledge was equal to his courage, had reHected during tho 
course of his voyage from England, in what manner his 



220 D A L R y M P L E. 

passage to China could be attained at that season ; and it 
occurred to him, that the same principle by which ships 
went to the Malabar coastand Persia from Madras in the south 
west monsoon, was applicable in a passage to China, viz. 
by crossing the line, and taking advantage of the contrary 
monsoons that prevail at the same time in north and south 
latitudes. Thus, as the ships from Madras stand to the south 
east with the south west winds, till they get into the south 
east trade in south latitude, and then stand westward, till 
they are to windward of their intended port, when they 
cross the line again into north latitude ; so commodore 
Wilson reasoned, that the north-west winds would, in 
south latitude, carry him far enough eastward to n)ake the 
north-east wind a fair wind to China. Sir William Draper 
countenancing his opinion, commodore Wilson, on his ar- 
rival at Madras, mentioned the subject to Mr. Dalrymple, 
and asked his sentiments ; which entirely concurring with 
his own, and being confirmed by reference to Saris, &c. 
who had performed the most essential part of the voyage, 
though with a different object; commodore Wilson was 
thereby induced to propose it to governor Pigot, who con- 
sulted Mr. Dalrymple, and being convinced that it was 
practicable, commodore Wilson performed tlie voyage 
highly to the credit of our maritime reputation, and much 
to the advantage of the company. 

Circumstances occurred in the discussion of the propo- 
sition made by commodore W^ilson, which induced Mr. 
Dalrymple to propose, and governor Pigot to accede to, 
his going in the Cuddalore schooner to the eastward, on a 
voyage of general observation, although it had a particular 
destination ; but as the secretaryship became vacant in 
1759, lord Pigot, thinking that place a more beneficial 
object, endeavoured to dissuade Mr. Dalrymple from the 
vo3'age, but without success, as he remained warm in the 
pursuit of an o!)ject of whose national iuaportance he had 
long been convinced, and considered this voyage as a new 
aera in his life. 

As the Cuddalore went under the secret orders of the 
governor, it was not thought proper to apply to the coun- 
cil for the provision of such a cargo as was necessary ia 
countries where there was no regular communication or 
commerce ; and where even provisions could, probably, 
only be purchased by barter ; a small cargo was j)ut on 
board at the cxpencc of the goveriior, who permitted cap- 



D A"L R Y M P L E. 221 

tain Bal<er, the captain, to have a fourth concern. The 
evening before Mr. Dalrymple embarked, governor Pigot 
presented him witii an instrument, making iiim a present 
of whatever profits might accrue from tlie three- fourths 
concern. Having never insinuated such an intention, he 
left no ground for mercenary imputation against Mr. Dal- 
rymple, in undertaking the voyage, or against the gover- 
nor himself for ordering it. In consequence of an offer 
made by the hon. Thomas Howe, conuuander of that ship, 
he first embarked in the Winchelsea, April 22, 1759, and 
having joined the Cuddalore, captain George Baker, in 
the strait of Malacca, whither that vessel had been dis- 
patched a few (lays before the Winchelsea, Mr. Dalrymple 
quitted tlie Winchelsea, and embarked on the Cuddalore 
June 3, in the Strait of Sincapore. 

It cannot be pretended to give a recital, however brief, 
of the course of this voyage, of which Mr. Dalrynqiie did 
not publish any connected journal, but it was in this 
voyage the English visited Sooloo. Mr. Dalrymple con- 
cluded a treaty with the sultan, and made a contract with 
the principal persons, for a cargo to be brought on the 
East India company's account, which the natives engaged 
to receive at 100 per cent, profit, and to provide a cargo 
for China, which they engaged should yield an equivalent 
profit there. The principal person with whom this con- 
tract was negociated, was Dato Bandahara, the head and 
representative of the nobility ; for the Sooloo government 
is a mixed monarchy, in which, though the principal no- 
bility and orankv's meet in the national council to delibe- 
rate, the authority is vested in a few officers, who are 
hereditary, the Sultan, Dato Bandahara, who represents 
the nobility, and Cranky Mallick, who represents the 
people ; matters of government depending on the con- 
currence of two of the states, of which the people must be 
one. 

The person then filling the hereditary office of Banda- 
hara, was as conspicuous for the probity and exalted justice 
of his character, as by his distinguished rank, of which, 
whilst Mr. Dalryjiiple was at Sooloo, in 1761, an occasion 
occurred for Bandahara to exert. There were at this time 
two Chinese junks in Sooloo road; in the cargo of one of 
them the sultan had an interest ; the other belonged en- 
tirely to Chinese merchants of Amoy. The sultan, who 
was very avaricious, in hopes of getting money from the 



D A L R Y ]\I P L E. 

Chinese, or thinking, perhaps, that it would be more ad- 
vantageous for the sale of the cargo in which he was con- 
cerned, laid an embargo on the other junk : Baudahara 
and Oranky iMallick remonstrated with the sultan on the 
impropriety of this behaviour to mercliants, but without 
effect; upon wliich Bandahara, and Oranky Mallick, with 
Pangleema iMihiham, a person of a military order, conso- 
nant to ancient knighthood, went on board the China 
junk, in which the sultan had an interest, and brought her 
rudder on shore, iufornjino- the sultan that they would de- 
tain the one if he obstructed the departure ot the other : 
this well-timed interference had its due effect, antl both 
junks proceeded without further molestation on their voyage 
liume. 

He returned to Madras from this eastern voyage, Jan. 
2S, 1762. The company's administration approved of his 
proceedings, and in March 1762, having resolved to send 
on the company's account the cargo stipulated, employed 
liiin in expediting the provision of that cargo. His ex- 
pences in the voyage of almost three years, amounted to 
G12/. which was repaid by the governor and council of 
IVIadras, but he neither asked or received any pecuniary 
advantage to himself. On the 1 0th of May, the London 
packet was destined for the Sooloo voyage, and Mr. DaU 
rymple was appointed captain. In the passage from Mad- 
ras to Sooloo, he hrst visited Balambangan; and on his 
arrival at Sooloo, found the small-pox had swept otf n)any 
of the principal inhabitants, and dispersed the rest; so that 
very ineffectual measures had been taken towards pro- 
viding the intended cargo. But although this unexpected 
calamitj^, which in the Eastern Islands is similar in its ef- 
fects to the j)lague, was a sufficient reason for the disap- 
pointment of tlie cargo, yet a still more efficient cause, 
was the death of Bandahara, soon after Mr. Dalrymple's 
departure from Sooloo, the preceding year. A few days 
before the death of this good man, he sent for the linguist 
whom Mr. Dal rymple had employed, and who had re- 
mained behind at Sooloo, asking if he thought the English 
would certainly come again. The linguist declaring that 
it was not to be doubted ; Bandahara thereupon expressed 
liis concern, saying that it would have made him very- 
happy to have li^cd to have seen this contract faithfully 
performed on tlieir part, and the friendship with the Eng- 
lish established on a firm footing. The linguist observed^ 



D A L R Y M P L E. 223 

that they were all equally b(Hiiul. Baiuluhara replied, that 
altlioiiii;h this was true, all iiad not the same liispositiou ; 
and j)erhajjs none else the jjower of enforcing the due 
execution of tlieir engagcaienls ; but that he was resigned 
to the divine will. 

'I'iiis situation of affairs at Sooloo, made new arranfre- 
ments necessary, the result of which was, that one lialf of 
the cargo brought thither in the London should he de- 
livered, to enable the Sooloos to provide goods for the 
expected Indiaman ; hut that ship not arriving, new dilK- 
culties arose; as the London was not lari>e enouuh to re- 
ceive the goods they had provided ; and the necessitv of 
lier departure made it indispensable to deliver the remaining 
halt of the cargo, which had l)een retained as an incite- 
ment to the Sooloos faithfully to pay for that jjortion they 
had received. By delivery of the remainder, every thing 
was necessarily left to the mercy of the Sooloos, subjected 
not only to their honour, but to their discretion ; for if 
the goods they received were dissipated, they could ob- 
tain no cargo in return, having nothing to deliver to their 
vassals for their services, without which they were not en- 
titled to those services. ])alrymple, however, obtained a 
grant of the island of Balambangan, for the East India 
company, of which he took possession Jan. 23, 1763, on 
liis return towards Madras, and as it appeared necessary 
that the court of directors should have full information on 
the sid))ect of our future intercourse in the eastern islands, 
he determined to proceed to England for that purpose. 
But as the president and council thought it proper that he 
should proceed again to Sooloo in tlie Neptune Indiaman, 
in the way to China, and embark thence for England, he 
accordingly sailed Irom Madras July 5, 1763. Many cir- 
cumstances, however, [)revented the execution of every 
part of this plan, and he appears to have been disappointed 
in his views respecting the intercourse with the eastern 
islands, the advantages of which he afterwards fully stated 
in a pamphlet entitled " A Plan for extending the com- 
merce, (Sec." published in 1771, though printed in 17C9. 

Soonafterhisarrival home in 1 765, discoveries in the South 
Sea being a favourite object of Mr. Dalryniple's researches, 
he communicated his collections on that subject to the se- 
cretary of state, lord Shelbtniie, late n^artj-iis o( Lans- 
duwne, who expressed a strong desire to eni])!oy him on 
these discoveries. Afterwards, when the royal society 



224 D A L R Y M P L E. 

proposed to send persons to observe the transit of Venus, 
in 1769, Mr. Dalrymple was approved of by the admiralty, 
as a proper person to be employed in this service, as well 
as to prosecute discoveries in that quarter ; but from some 
differences of opinion, partly owing to Oilicial etiquette, re- 
specting the employment of any person as commander of 
a vessel who was not a naval officer, and partly owing to 
Mr. Dalrymple's objections to a divided command, this 
design did not take place. In that year, however, the 
court of directors of the East India company gave Mr. Dal- 
rymple 5000/. for his past services, and as an equivalent 
to the emoluments of secretary at Madras, which he had 
relinquished in 1759, to proceed on the eastern voyage. 
As the various proceedings concerning Balambangan were 
published in 1769, it may be sufficient to notice in this 
place that the court of directors appointed Mr. Dalrymple 
chief of Balambangan, and conunandcr of the Britannia; 
but some unhappy differences arising with the directors, 
he was removed from the charjre of that intended settle- 
inent, and another person appointed in his stead. In 177 1, 
however, the court of directors bein^ dissatisfied with this 
person's conduct, had it in contemplation to send a super- 
visor thither. On this occasion Mr. Dalrymple made an 
offer of his services to redeem the expedition from destruc- 
tion, without any emolument except defraying his ex- 
pences, on condition that a small portion of the clear profits 
of the establishment should be granted to him and his heirs, 
&c. But this offer was not accepted, and soon after the 
settlement of Balambangan was lost to the company. 

F'rom the time Mr. Dalrymple returned to ICngland, in 
1765, he was almost constantly engaged in collecting and 
arranging materials for a full exposition of the imjiortance 
of the Eastern Islands and South Seas ; and was encou- 
raged by the court of directors to publish various charts, 
&c. It is positively affirmed that the chart of the northern 
part of tlie Bay of Bengal, published in 1772, was the oc- 
casion of saving the Hawke Indiaman from the French, in 
the war. 

Mr. Dalrymple had taken every occasion to keep up his 
claim on the Madras establishment ; but after lord Pigot 
was, in 1775, appointed governor of Fort St, George, he 
was advised by the then chairman and deputy chairman, 
to make a specific application before the arrangement^ of 
the Madras council was made, his former letters being 



D A L R Y M P L E. 225 

considered as too general. Accordingly, on the 3d of 
March, 1775, he applied lo be restored to his standing on 
the Madras establishment ; which application the company 
were pleased to comply with, and he was appointed in his 
rank, as a member ot" council, and was nominated to be 
one of the committee of circuit. In the proceedings of 
the council at Madras, no man, however violent in his 
animositv or opposition, ever imputed to Mr. Dalrymple 
any want of integrity or zeal, for what he thought was for 
the company's interest, and he had the satisfaction to find 
that the court of directors jjave him distinguished marks of 
their up|)robaLion. On the 1st of April, ill'J, when the 
company were pleased to accept of his services in the em- 
ployment he held until his death, namely, thatof hydrogra- 
pher, by advice of sir George Wombwell, the then chairman, 
lie accepted on the 8th that employment by letter, read iu 
court on the yth of April, on condition it should not inva- 
lidate his pretensions at Madras. 

On the 27th of May 1780, the court of directors re- 
solved that Messrs. Russell, Dalrymple, Stone, and La- 
thom, having come home in pursuance of the resolution of 
the general court, in 17 77, to have their conduct inquired 
into, and no objection having been made in so long a time, 
nor appearing against their conduct, should be again em- 
ployed in the company's service. The other gentlemen 
were afterwards appointed to chiefships, Mr. Dalrymple 
continuing in his present employment, with the reservation 
of his Madras pretensions. When the employment of hy- 
drographer was confirmed on the 19th of Ju^ly, he ex- 
pressed by letter, that he trusted, if he wished to return 
to Madras hereafter, that the court would appoint him, 
and this letter was ordered to lie on the table. 

In 1784, when the India bill was brought into parlia- 
ment, there was a clause precluding the company from 
sending persons back to India, who had been a certain time 
in England; Mr. Dalrymple represented the injustice this 
was to him, who had accepted his employment, on con- 
dition that it should not injure his pretensions at Madras; 
a clause was thereupon inserted, precluding that measure, 
unless with the concurrence of three-fourths of the direc- 
tors, and three-fourths of the proprietors ; he was still not 
satisfied, and carried on a sort of controversial correspond- 
ence with the directors, the merits of which would now 
be but imperfectly understood. 

Vol. XI. Q 



226 D A L R Y M P L E. 

It having been long in contemplation to have an hydro- 
graphical office at the Admiralty, this wa^ at len^jili esta- 
blished during the administration of earl Spencer. In 1795 
Mr. Dalrymple was appointed to the office of hydrogra- 
pher, and received the assent of the court of directors, 
under whom he held a similar office, and who had lately 
given him a |)ension for life. 

From this time little occurred in his history worthy of 
particular notice until the month of May 1808, when hav- 
ing refused to resign his place of hydrographer to the Ad- 
miralty, on the ground of superannuation, and to accept of 
a pension, he was dismissed from his situation ; and it is 
said, that in the opinion of his medical attendants, his 
deatli was occasioned by vexation arising from that event. 
A motion was shortly afterwards made on this subject in the 
house of commons, when the secretary to the admiralty, 
after bearing the most ample testimony to the talents and 
services of INIr. Dalrymple, fully justified the conduct of 
that board, which had adopted a necessary measure ^ith 
much reluctance. Mr. Dalrymple, indeed, had exhibited 
so many symptoms of decayed faculties, joined to an irrita- 
ble haljit, as to lessen the value of those services for which 
he had been so highly respected. He died June 19, 1S08, 
at his house in High-street Mary-le-bone, and was buried 
in the small cemetery adjoining the church. His collection 
Cff books was very large and valuable, and particularly 
rich in works pertaining to geography and navigation, 
which were purchased by the admiralty. His valuable col- 
lection of poetry he bequeathed to his heir at law, to be 
kept at the family seat in Scotland, as an heir-loom ; and 
his miscellaneous collection, containing, among others, a 
great number of valuable foreign books, particularly in the 
Sjjanish and Portuguese languages, was sold by auction, 
and produced a considerable sum. 

His printed wtnks were very numerous. The following 
list, exclusive of his nautical publications, was furnished 
by himself at the end of some memoirs of his life, which 
he .'rew up for the European magazine in 18U2, and of 
which we have availed ourselves in the preceding account. 
In the following list, those marked * were never published, 
and those marked f were not sold. 

1. ** Account of Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean 
before 1764," 1767, 8vo. 2. t " Memorial to the Pro- 
prietors of East India Stock," 1768, 8vo. 3. f " Account 



r> A L R Y M P L E. 227 

of what has passed between the East India Directors and 
Alexander Dalrymple," as first printed, 1768, Hvo. 4. "Ac- 
count of what lias passed — Do. — Do. — as published," 8vo. 
5. " Plan ibr extending the Commerce of this Kingdom, 
and of the East India Company, by an Establishment at 
Balambangan," 1771. 6. * *' Letter concerning the pro- 
posed Supervisors," 20th June I76y, 8vo. 7. " Letter 
concerning the proposed Supervisors," 30th June 1769, 4to- 
8. Second Letter — Do. — 10th July 1769, 4to. 9. " Vox 
populi Vox Dei, lord Weymouth's Appeal to the General 
Court of India Proprietors, considered, 14th August," 1769, 
4to. 10. " Historical collection of South Sea Voyages," 
1770, 2 vols. 4to ; 1771, 4to. 11. f " Proposition of a 
benevolent Voyage to introduce Corn, &c. into New Zea- 
land," &c. 1771, 4to. 12. Considerations on a Pamphlet 
(by governor Johnstone) entitled " Thoughts on our ac- 
quisitions in the East Indies, particularly respecting Ben- 
oal" 1772, 8vo. 13. *' General View of the East India 
Company's Affairs (written in January' 1769), to which are 
added some Observations on the present State of the Com- 
pany's Afiairs," 1772, 8vo. 14. t " A paper concerning 
the General Government for India," 8vo. 15. t " Rights 
of the East India Company," — N. B. This was printed at 
the company's expencc, 1773, Svo. 16. "Letter to Dr. 
Hawkesworth," 1773, 4to. 17. *" Observations on Dr. 
Hawkesworth's Preface to 2d edition," 1773, 4to. An 
opinion of sir David Dalrymple, that there was too much 
asperity in this Reply, retarded, and the death of Dr. 
Hawkesworth prevented, the publication. 18. f " Memo- 
rial of Doctor Juan Louis Arias (in Spanish)," 1773, 4to. 

19. t " Proposition for printing, by subscription, the MS 
voyages and travels in the British Museum," 1773, 4to. 

20. " A full and clear proof that the Spaniards have no 
right to Balambangan," 1774, Svo. 21. "An historical 
relation of the several Expeditions, from Fort Marlbro' to 
the Islands off the West Coast of Sumatra," 177 5, 4to. 
22. " Collection of Voyages, chiefly in the South Atlantic 
Ocean, from the original MSS. by Dr. Halley, M. Bouvet, 
&.C. with a Preface conctrning a Voyage on Discover}', 
proposed to be undertaken by Alexander Dalrymple at hi* 
own expence ; Letters to Lord North on the subject, and 
Plan of a Republican Colony," 1775, 4to. 23 f'" Copies 
of papers relative to the Restoration of the King of T^n- 
jour, the Imprisonment of Lord Pigot, &,c. Printed hf 



228 D A L R Y M P L E, 

the East India Company, for the use of the Proprietors." 

1777, 4to. — N. B. In this collection are many Minutes of 
Council, and some Letters by Alexander Dalrymple. 
24. t Several other pieces on the same subject, written by 
Alexander Dalrj^mple, were printed by admiral Pigot and 
Alexander Dalrymple, but not sold ; those particularly by 
Alexander Dalrymple are 4to, 1777. 25. *' Notes on Lord 
Pigot's Narrative.'' 26. *' Letter to Proprietors of East 
India Stock," 8th May 1777. 27. " Account of the trans- 
actions concerning the Revolt at Madras, 30th April 1777. 
Appendix.'* 28. *' Letter to the Covut of Directors, 19th 
June 1777. — Memorial — 19th June 1777." 29. t "Ac- 
count of the subversion of the Legal Government of Fort 
St. George, in answer to Mr. Andrew Stuart's Letter to 
the Court of Directors," 1778, 4to. 30. "Journal of 
the Grenville," published in the Philosophical Transac- 
tions, 1778, 4to. 31. " Considerations on the present 
State of Affairs between England and America, 1778," 8vo. 
32. '< Considerations on the East India Bill, 1769," 8vo, 

1778. 33. " State of the East India Company, and 
Sketch of an equitable Agreement," 1780, 8vo. 34. "Ac- 
count of the Lossof the Grosvenor," 1783, 8vo. 35. "Re- 
flections on the present State of the East India Company," 
1783, 8vo. 36. " A short account of the Gentoo Mode of 
collecting the Revenues on the Coast of Coromandel," 
1783, Svo. 37. " A Retrospective View of the Ancient 
System of the East India Company, with a Plan of Regu- 
lation," 1784, Svo. 38. " Postscript to Mr. Dalrymple's 
account of the Gentoo Mode of collecting the Revenues 
on the Coast of Coromandel, being, — Obsenations made 
on a perusal of it by Moodoo Kistna," 1785, Svo. 39. "Ex- 
tracts from Juvenilia, or Poems by George Wither," 1785, 
24mo. 40. " Fair State of the Case between the East 
India Company and the Owners of Ships now in their 
service ; to which are added, — Considerations on Mr. 
Brough's Pamphlet, concerning East India Shipping," 
178-6, Svo. 41. " A serious Admonition to the Public on 
the intended Thief Colony at Botany Bay." 42. " Re- 
view of the Contest concerning Four New Regiments, gra- 
ciously offered by his Majesty to be sent to India," &c. 
1788, 8vo. 43. * " Plan for promoting the Fur- trade, and 
securing it to this Country, by uniting the Operations of 
the East India and Hudson's Bay Companies," 1789, 4to. 
44. * " Memoir of a Map of the Lands around the North 



D A L R Y M P L E. 229 

Pole," 1789, 4to. 45. "An Historical Journal of the 
Expeditions by Sea and Land, to the North of California 
in 1768, 176L>, and 1770, when Sj^anish establishments 
were first made at San Diego and Monterey, translated 
from the Spanish MS. by William Kevely, esq. to which ia 
added, — Translation of Cabrera Bueno's Description of the 
Coast of California, and an Extract from the MS Journal 
of M. Sauvague le Muet, 1714," 1790, 4to. 46. "A Let- 
ter to a Friend on the Test Act," 1790, 8vo. 47. " The 
Spanish Pretensions fairly discussed," 17 90, Svo. 48, "The 
Spanish Memorial of 4th June considered," 1790, Svo. 
49. j " Plan for the publication of a Repertory of Orien- 
tal Information," 1790, 4to. 50. *" Memorial of Alex- 
ander Dalrymple," 1791, Svo. 51. " Parliamentary Re- 
form, as it is called, improper, in the present State of this 
Country," 1793, Svo. 52. " Mr. Fox's Letter to his wor- 
thy and independent Electors of Westminster, fully con- 
sidered," 1793, Svo. 53. t " Observations on the Cop- 
per-coinage wanted for the Circars. Printed for the use 
of the East India Company," 1794, Svo. 54. " The Poor 
Man's Friend," 1795, Svo. 55. " A collection of English 
Songs, with an Appendix of Original Pieces," 1796, Svo. 
56. * " A Fragment on the India Trade, written in 1791," 
1797, Svo. 57. "Thoughts of an old Man of independent 
mind, though dependent fortune," 1800, Svo. 58. " Ori- 
ental Repertory," vol. I. 4to. April 1791 to January 
1793. 59. " Oriental Repertory," vol. II. 4to. (not com- 
pleted).* 

DALRYMPLE (David), an eminent Scotch lawyer 
and antiq\iary, and brother to the preceding, was born in 
Edinburgh on the '28th of October 1726, and was educated 
at Eton school, where he was distinguished no less for his 
acquisitions in literature than for the regularity of his 
manners. From Eton he was removed, to complete his 
studies at Utrecht, where he remained till 1746. In 1748 
he was called to the Scotch bar, where, notwithstanding 
the elegant propriety of the cases which he drew, his suc- 
cess did not answer the expectations which had been formed 
of him. This was not owing either to want of science or 
to want of industry, but to certain peculiarities, which, if 
not inherent in his nature, were the result of early and 

' Memoirs by himself in European Mag. for November aud December 1802. 
— Lysons's Environs, Suppleni^'nlal volumo. 



230 D A L R Y M P L E. 

deep-rooted habits. He possessed on all occasions a so- 
vereign contempt, not only for verbal antithesis, but for 
■well-rounded periods, and every thing which had the sem- 
blance of declamation ; and indeed he was wholly unfitted, 
by an ill-toned voice, and ungraceful elocution, for shi- 
ning as an orator. It is not surprizing, therefore, that his 
pleadings, which were never addressed to the passions, 
did not rival those of some of his opponents, who, pos- 
sessed of great rhetorical powers, did not, like iiim, employ 
strokes of irony too fine to be perceived by the bulk of any 
audience, but expressed themselves in full, clear, and 
harmonious periods. Even his memorials, though classi- 
cally written, and often replete with valuable matter, did 
not on every occasion please the court ; for they were aU 
Tjifays brief, and sometimes, it was said, indicated more at- 
tention to the minutiae of forms than to the merits of the 
cause. Yet on points which touched his own feelings, or 
the interests of truth and virtue, his language was animated, 
his arguments forcible, and his scrupulous regard to form 
thrown aside. He was on all occasions incapable of mis- 
leading the j-udge by a false statement of facts, or his 
clients, by holding out to them fallacious grounds of hope. 
The character indeed which he had obtained for knowledge 
and integrity in the Scotch law, soon raised him to an emi- 
nence in his profession. Accordingly, in March 1766, he 
was appointed one of the judges of the court of session 
with the warmest approbation of his countrymen : and in 
May 1776 he succeeded to the place of a lord commis- 
sioner of the justiciary on the resignation of lord Coalston, 
his wife's father. Upon taking his seat on the bench he 
assumed the tide of lord Hailes, in compliance with the 
visage established in the court of session : this is the name 
by which he is generally known among the learned of Eu- 
rope. 

As a judge of the supreme, civil, and criminal courts, 
he acted in the view of his country ; from which he merited 
and obtained high confidence and approbation. But he 
was not only conspicuous as an able and upright judge, 
iuid a sound lawyer ; he was also eminent as a profound 
and accurate scholar; being a thorough master of classical 
learning, the belles Icttres, and historical antiquities ; 
particularly of his own country, to the study of which he 
was led by his profession. Indelatigable in the prosecu- 
tion of these studies, his time was sedulously devoted to 



D A L R Y M P L E. 231 

the promotion of useful learning, piety, and virtue. Nu- 
merous arc the works that have issued from liis pen, all of 
them distinguished by uncommon accuracy, taste, and 
learning. Besides some occasional papers, both serious 
and humorous, of liis composing, that appeared in tlie 
World *, and a variety of communicaiions, critical and 
biographical, in the Gentleman's Magazine f, and other 
publications of like nature, he allotted some part ot 1ms 
time to the illustration and defence of prnnitive Christi- 
anity. 

In 1771 he composed a very learned and ingenious paper, 
or law-case, on the dispnted peerage of Sutherland, lie 
was one of the trustees of the la.iy Elizabeth, tne daiignter 
of the last earl, and being theti a judge, the names of two 
eminent lawyers were annexed to it. In that case, lie dis- 
played the greatest accurai-y of research, and tne most 
profound knowjetige of the antiquities and rules of descent, 
in that country ; wiiich he managed with such dexterity of 
argUMient, as clearly established the right of liis pupil, and 
f(Mmed a precedent, at the same time, for the decision of 
all sueli questions in future. In 1773 he published a small 
volume, entitled '' llfmarks on the History of Scotland.'* 
These appealed to be the gleanings of the historical re- 
search wliicii lie was making at that time, and discovered 
his lordship's turn for minute and accurate inquiry into 
doubtful points of history, and at the same time displayed 
the candour and liberality of his judgment. This puijlica- 
tion prepared the public for the favourable reception of 
tiie Annals of Scotland, jn 2 vols. 4to, the first of wliich 
appeared in 1776, and the second in 1779, and fudy an- 
swered the expectations which he had raised. The dilfi- 
culties attending the subject, tlie want of candour, and 
the spirit of party, had hitherto prevented the Scotch from 
having a genuine history of their country, in times previ- 
ous to those of queen Mary. Lord Haiies carried his at- 
tention to this history, as far back as to the accession of 
Malcolm Canmore, in 1037, and his work contains the 

* Nos. 140, 147, 204, were wiittea which produced from the pen of our 

by loril Hiiiles. English RaphaoJ the vindication of it 

-f- The Remarks on fhe 'I'atlers, in in llie same vohune, p. 60'], and the 

volume LX. pp. 679. 793, 901, 1073, reply of lord Haiirs, in p. 8S6.— The 

1163, were by lord Haiies. His too Edinburgh iMaga/'jiie was also fre» 

«as the critique in volume LXI. p. 399, quently enriched by his comtnunica- 

on the famous Miniature of Milton, in tions. 
ttie possession of sir Joahwa Reynolds, 



233 D A L R Y M P L E. 

annals of 14 princes, from Malcolm III. to the death of Da- 
vid II. And happy it was that the affairs of Scothuid at- 
^.^tracted the talents of so able a writer, who to the learning^ 
and skill of a lawyer, joined the industry and curiosity of 
ah antiquary ; to whom no object appears frivolous or un- 
important that serves to elucidate his subject. 

Lord Hailes has so well authenticated his work by re- 
finances to historians of good credit, or deeds and writings 
of undoubted authority, and has so happily cleared it from 
fable, uncertainty, and conjecture, that every Scotchman, 
since its appearance, has been able to trace back with 
confidence, in genuine memoirs, the history of his country 
for 736 years, and may revere the memory of the respec- 
table judge, who with indefatigable industry, and painful 
labour, has removed the rubbish under which the precious 
remains were concealed. Lord Hailes at first intended, 
as appears by an advertisement prefixed to his work, to 
carry down his annals to the accession of James I. but, to 
the great disappointment of the public, he stofjped short 
at the death of David IL and a very important period of 
the history still remains to be filled up by an able writer. 
Lord Hailes's Annals of Scotland, it is believed, stand un- 
rivalled in the English language, for a purity and simpli- 
city of style, an elegance, perspicuity, and conciseness of 
narration, that peculiarly suited the form of his work; and 
is entirely void of that false ornament, and stately gait, 
which makes the works of some other writers appear in 
gigantic but fictitious majesty. 

In 1786, Lord Hailes came forward with the excellent 
Dr. VVutson, and other writers in England, to repel Mr. 
Gibbon's attack on Christianity, and puiilislied a 4to vo- 
lume, entitled " An Enquiry into the Secondary Causes 
which Mr. Gibbon has assigned for the rapid pro"^ress of 
Christianity," in which there is a great display of literary 
acumen, and of zeal for the cause he espou.ses, without 
the rancour of theological controversy. Tiiis was the last 
work he sent from the press ; except a few biographical 
sketches of eminent Scotsmen, designed as specimens of 
a " Biographia Scotica," which he justly considered as a 
desideratum, and which, it is much to be regretted, the 
infirmities of age, increasing fast upon him, did not allow 
him to supply ; for he was admirably qualified for the un- 
dertaking, not only by his singular diligence and candour, 
but from the uncommon extent and accuracy of his literary 



D A L R Y M P L E, *33 

and biographical knowledge ; in which, it is believed, he 
excelled a.11 his contemporaries. 

Akhouiih his lordsliip's constitution had been \or\<r in an 
enfeebled stale, he attended his duty on the bench till 
within three days of his death, which happened on the 29th 
of November 1792, in the 66th year of his age. His lord- 
ship was twice married ; by his first wife, Anne Brown, 
oidy daughter of lord Coalston, he left issue one daughter, 
who inherits the family estate. His second marriage (of 
wliicli also there is issue one daughter) was to Helen 
Fergusson, youngest daughter of lord .Kilkerran, who 
survived liim. Leaving no male issue, the title of baronet 
descends to his nephew, son of the late lord provost DaU 
rymple. 

Lord Hailes was for some years the correspondent of Dr. 
Johnson, to whose inspection he submitted much of his 
*' Annals" in manuscript. He had early formed a high 
opinion of the author of the Rambler, and considered him 
as one of the best moral writers England had produced. 
Johnson praised him as " a man of worth, a scholar, and 
a wit." His minute accuracy, and acuteness in detecting 
error, were in unison with Johnson's love of truth. " The 
exactness of his dates," said he on one occasion, " raises 
my wondt^r. He seems to have the closeness of Henault, 
without his constraint;" and this opinion he takes a plea- 
sure in repeating in a subsequent letter to Mr. Boswell : 
*' Be so kind as to return lord Hailes my most respectful 
thanks for his first volume : his accuracy strikes me with 
wonder ; his narrative is far superior to that of Henault, as 
I have formerly mentioned." — " Lord Hailes's Annals of 
Scotland have not that pointed form which is the taste of 
this age ; but it is a book which will always sell — it has 
such a stability of dates, such a certainty of facts, and 
such a punctuality of citation. I never before read Scotch 
history with certainty." 

The erudition of lord Hailes, says his friend the late 
lord Woodhouslee, was not of a dry and scholastic nature; 
he felt the beauties of the composition of the ancients ; he 
entered with taste and discernment into the merits of the 
Latin poets, and that peculiar vein of delicate and inge- 
nious thought which characterises the Greek epigram- 
matists ; and a few specimens which he has left of his own 
^composition in that style, evince the hand of a master. It 
would not, adds his lordship, be easy to produce from the 



234 D A L R Y M P L E. 

works of any modern Latin poet, a more delicate, tender, 
and pathetic effusion, or an idyllion of greater classical 
purity, tiian the iambics he wrote *' On the death of his 
tirst wife, in child-bed of twins*." Lord Hailes was a 
man of wit, and possessed a strong feeling of the absurd 
and ridicDlous in human conduct and character, which 
gave a keen edge of irony both to his conversation and 
writings. To his praise, however, it must be added, that 
that irony, if not always untinctured with prejudice, was 
never prompted by malignity, and was generally exerted 
in the cause of virtue and good morals. How much he 
excelled in painting the lighter weaknesses and absurdities 
of mankind, may be seen from the papers of his compo- 
sition in the " World" and the " Mirror." His private 
character was every thing that is praise-worthy and re- 
spectable. In a word, he was an honour to the station 
which he filled, and to the age in which he lived. That 
such a man shouUl not yet have found a biographer worthy 
of his merits, cannot be ascribed either to the obscurity of 
his character and station, or to the incapacity of his con- 
temporaries. But lord Hailes was a man of piety of the 
old stamp, and a strenuous advocate for revealed religion, 
and therefore did not share, as he woulti not have been 
ambitious to share, the celebrity that has been conferred 
on some of his countrymen of a very opposite character. 

The works of lord Hailes, arranged in the order of their 
publication, areas follow: 1. " bacred poems, by various 
authors," Edinb. 1751, 12mo. 2. " Tiie wisdom of So- 
lomon, wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Kcclesiasti- 
cus," Edinb. 1755, 12mo. 3. '* Select discourses, nine 
in number, by John Smith, late fellow of Queen's col- 
lege, Cambridge," Edinb. 1756, 12mo. 4. " World," 
■No. 140, Sept. 4, 1755; a meditation among books. 5. 
World, No. 147, Thursday, Oct. 23, 1755. C. World, 
No. 204, Thursday, Nov. 25, 1756. 7. " A discourse of 
the unnatural and vile Conspiracy attempted by John earl 
of Cowry, and his brother, against his majesty's person, 
at St. Johnstoun, upon the 5th of Aug. 1600," 1757, 12mo. 
8. " A sermon wiiich might have been preached in East 
Lothian, upon the 25th day of Oct. 1761, from Acts xxvii. 

* Vidi gemrllos, ct supt rbivi parens, Te, (1iiI<ms uxor ! Ut mihi sol occridit, 
Fausti (lecus puerperi j !?ndian»c ilejectiis polo ! 

At niox sub uiio flcbilis viUi parens 01)S(;ur.i vita: nunc eg:o pi r :»via, 
C'oHili gemellus ccspite. Hiu,. sulus, ac Uubiut f( ri.r ! 



D A L R Y M P L E. 23i 

1, 2. " The barbarous people shewed us no little kind- 
ness," Etliiib. 1761, k2mo ; occasioned by the country 
people pillaging the wreck of two ves-els, viz, the Betsy, 
Cunningham, and the Leith packet, Pitcairn, from Lon- 
don to Lcitli, cast away on the shore between Dunbar and 
North Berwick. Ali the passengers on board the former, 
in number seventeen, perished ; five on-board the latter, 
Oct. 16, 1761. An all'ecting discourse, which is said to 
have produced the restitution of some part of the pillage. 
9. '* Memorials and Letters relating to the history of Bri- 
tain in the reign of James 1. publislied from the originals," 
Glasgow, 1762. 10. " The works of the ever-memorable 
Mr. John Hailes of Eton, now first collected together," 
Glasgow, 1765, 3 vols. The line-paper copies of this 
work are truly elegant. 11. A specimen of a book en- 
titled : Ane compendious booke of godlie and spiritual 
sangs, collectit out of sundrie parts of the Scripture, with 
sundrie other ballates, changed out of prophaine sangs, for 
avoyding of sin and harlotrie, with augmentation of sundrie 
gude and godlie ballates, not contained in the first edition. 
Printed by Andro Hart," Edmb. 1765, l2mo. 12 " Me- 
morials and Letters relating to the history of Britain in the 
reign of Charles L published from the originals," Glasgow, 
1766. 13. " An Account of the Preservation of Charles IL 
after the battle of W^orcester, drawn up by himself; to 
which are added, his letters to several persons," Glasgow, 

1766. 14. "The secret correspondence between sir Ro- 
bert Cecil and James VI." 1766, 12mo. 15. "A cata- 
logue of the lords of session, from the institution of the 
college of justice, in \5i2, with historical notes," Edinb. 

1767, 4to. 16. " The private correspondence of doctor 
Francis Atteibury, bishop of Rochester, and his friends, 
in 1725, never before published," 1768, 4to. 17. "An 
examination of some of the artjuments for the hitrh anti- 
quity of regiam majestatem ; and an inquiry into the au- 
thenticity of the leges Malcolmi," Edinb. 1769, 4to. IS. 
" Historical Memoirs concerning the Provincial Councils of 
the Scottish Clergy, from the earliest accounts of the sera 
of the reformation," Edinb. 1769, 4to. 19. *' Canons of 
the church of Scotland, drawn up in the provincial councils 
held at Perth, anno 1242 and 1269," Edinb. 1769, 4to. 

20. " Ancient Scottish poems, published from the manu- 
script of George Bannatyne, 1568," Edinb. 1770, 12mo. 

21, " The additional case of Elizabeth, claiming the title 



236 D A L R Y M P L E. 

and dignity of countess of Sutherland," 4to. 22. " Re- 
marks Sn the History of Scotland,^' Edinb. 1773, 12mo. 
23. " Huberti Langueti EpistoliE ad Philippum Sydneiuin 
equitem Angluni, accurante D. Dalrymple de Hailes eq." 
Edinb. 1776, 8vo. 24. " Annals of Scotland, from the 
accession of Malcolm III. surnamed Canmore, to the ac- 
cession of Robert 1." Edinb. 1776. 25. "Tables of tlie 
succession of the kings of Scotland, from Malcolm III. to 
Robert I." 26. Chronological abridgment of the volume." 
The appendix contains eight dissertations. 27. " Annals 
of Scotland, iVom the accession of Robert I. surnamed 
Bruce, to the accession of the house of Stewart," 1779, 
4to, with an appendix containing nine dissertations. 28. 
*' Account of the Martyrs of Smyrna and Lyons, in the 2d 
century, with explanatory notes," Eclinb. 177G. 29. 
*' Remains of Christian A^ntiquity," Edinb. 1778, 3 vols. 
30. " Octavius, a dialogue by Marcus Minucius Felix,'* 
Edinb. 1781. 31. "Of the manner in which the perse- 
cutors died, by Lactantius," Edinb. 1782. 32. " Luciani 
Coeiii Firmiani Lactantii divinarum institutionura liber 
quintus, seu de justitia," 1777. 33. " Disquisitions con- 
cerning the Antiquities of the Christian Church," Glasgow, 
1783. 34. " Sketch of the life of John Barclay," 1786, 
4to. 35. *' Sketch of the life of John Hamilton, a secular 
priest, who lived about 1600," 4to. 36. " Sketch of the 
life of sir James Ramsay, a general oiBcer in the armies of 
Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden." 37. " Life of 
George Leslie," 4to. 33. " Sketch of the life of Mark 
Alex. Boyd," 4to. 39. " The opinions of Sarah duchess 
dowager of Marlborough, published from her originalMSS." 
1788, 12mo. 40. " The address of Q. Scjjtim. TertuUian 
to Scapula Tertnllus, proconsul of Africa," Edinb. 1790, 
12mo. This address contains many particulars relating to 
the church after the 3d century. The translator has re- 
jected all words and phrases of French origin, and writes 
entirely in the Anglo-Saxon dialect. In the course of the 
notes, many obscurities of the original, not adverted to by 
other commentators, are explained. Some strange inac- 
curacies of Mr. Gibbon are also detected, not included in 
the misrepresentations of his two famous chapters. He 
was long engaged in pursuits to examine the authenticity 
of the books of the New Testament. The result is said to 
have been, that he discovered every verse contained in it, 
with the exception of two or three, in the writings of the 



D A L R Y M P L E. 237 

three first centuries. — Indeed this seems to have Ijeen an 
object in iiU his works ; tor, at the end of each of his 
translations and editions of the primitive Christian writers, 
a table is given of passages quoted or mentioned by them. * 
DALRYMPLE (James), the seventh baron and first 
viscount Stair, was born in 1609, studied at the college 
of Glasgow, and passed all the regular degrees of learning 
in that university. On the commencement of the rebel- 
lion in the reign of Charles I. he accepted a captain's com- 
mission from the parHament, in the earl of Glencairn's re- 
giment, but was soon called off to a more suitable province, 
that of filling a philosophy chair in the university of Glas- 
gow. Having applied himself particularly to the study of 
tlie laws, he entered as an advocate in 1648, and became 
eminent for his judgment and skill, if not for his integrity. 
AV'hen tne estates of the nation sent commissioners to 
Breda to invite Charles II. to Scotland, he was appointed 
secretary to the embass}-, and acquitted himself entirely to 
his majesty's satisfaction. He then resumed his practice 
at the bar, but could not be prevailed upon to take any 
oaths to the government during the usurpation. W'heu 
Charles II. was restored to the throne, he conferred on 
Mr. Dalrymple the honour of knighthood, appointed him 
a senator of the college of justice, and in 1671, lord pre- 
sident of the session, in which office his conduct was very 
unpopular; and in 1682, being dismissed from all his of- 
fices, he retired to Holland, where he became such a 
favourite with William prince of Orange, that when ad- 
vanced to tl)e throne of these kingdoms, his majesty re- 
stored him to his place of lord presixlent, and raised him 
to the dignity of viscount Stair, lord Glenluce and Stran- 
rawer. His lordship continued to enjoy his hygh legal 
office, and the favour of his prince, till his death, Nov. 25, 
1695.- His character as a politician has not been favour- 
ably drawn by some historians, particularly Mr. Laing, in 
liis lately-published " History of Scotland." His personal 
character seems liable to less objection, and of his learning 
no doubt can be justly enteitaii»ed. He wrote : 1. " The 
Institutions of the Law of Scotland," second edit. fol. 1693. 

* Edinburgh Magazine for 1793. — European for ditto. — Gent. Mas- vol. LXIf. 
— Dr. Gleig's Supplement to the EncycloprBdi.i Britannioa. — Tytlcr's Life of 
Lord Kaimes. — Forbes's Life of Bealtie. — Funeral Sermon by Dr. Carlyle— 
Boswell's Life of Johnsou. — Letter in defence of his grandfather, London Mag. 
1775, p. 3S0. 



235 D A L R Y M P L E. 

2. " Decisions of the Court of Session from 1661 to 1681," 
2 vols. fol. 3. " Pliilosopliia nova experimentalis," pub- 
lished in Holland during his exile, and much commended 
by Bayle in his Journal. 4. " A Vindication of the Divine 
Perfections, &c. by a Person of Honour," 1695, 8vo. 
5. " An Apology for his own Conduct," 4to, the only copy 
of which extant is said to be in the advocates' library at 
Edinburgh, Had lord Orford read much of his history, he 
needed not have added that " it is not known on what oc- 
casion he published it."^ 

DALTON (John, D. D.) was born in 1709, at Deane, 
in Cumberland, where his father was then rector. He had 
Lis school education at Lowther, in Westmoreland, and 
thence was removed, at the age of sixteen, to Queen's- 
coUege, in Oxford. When he had taken his first degrees, 
he was employed as tutor or governor to lord Beauchamo, 
only son of Algernon Seymour, earl of Hertford, late duke 
of Somerset. During his attendance on that noble youth, 
he employed some of his leisure hours in adapting Milton's 
" Masque at Ludlow Castle" to the stage, by a judicious 
insertion of several songs and passages selected from other 
of Milton's works, as well as of several songs and other 
elegant additions of his own, suited to the characters and 
to the manner of th« ori<iinal author. This was received 
as a very acceptable present to the public ; and it still 
continues one of the most favourite dramatic entertain- 
ments, under the title of " Comus, a masque," being set 
to music by Dr, Arne. We cannot omit mentioning to 
Dalton's honour, that, during the run of this piece, he in- 
dustriously sought out a grand-daughter of Milton's, op- 
pressed both by age and penury; and procured her a 
benefit from this play, the profits of which to her amounted, 
it is said, to upwards of 120/. Dr. Johnson wrote the Pro- 
logue spoken on this occasion. A bad state of health pre- 
vented Dr. Dalton from attending his pupil abroad, and 
saved him the mortification of beuig an eye-witness of his 
death, which was occasioned by the small-pox, at Bologna, 
in Italy. Soon after, succeeding to a fellowship in his 
college, he entered into orders, according to the rules of 
that society. 

He now applied hitnself with diligence to the duties of. 
his function, and was noticed as an able preacher at the 

* Park's edition of the Royal and Noble Authors. — Laing's Hist, of ScollanJ, 



D A'L T O N. 233 

university, in which character he was employed by Seclcer, 
afterwards archbishop ot Canterbury, as his assistant at 
St. James's. In July 17oO he took liis degrees of B. and 
D. D. for which he went out grand compounder, and about 
the same time, was presented to the rectory of St. Mary at 
Hill by the late duke of Somerset ; and upon his recom- 
nieiidatiou, promoted by tl)e king to a prebend of Wor- 
cester, iit wiiich ])lace he died, July 21, 1763. He mar- 
ried a sister of sir Francis Gosling, an alderman of Lon- 
don, Ky whom he left no issue. He had published, 1 , 
*' A volume of Sermons," 1757 ; and before that, 2. " Two 
Kpistles," 1744, 4to, written in 1735, 3. "A descriptive 
Poem, addressed to two ladies, at their return from view- 
ing the coal-mines near Whitehaven ;" to which are added 
some thoughts on building and planting, addressed to sir 
James Lovvther, of Lowther^hall, bart. 17 55, 4to. This 
entertaining poem, which is reprinted in Pearch's collec- 
tion, vol. I. describes the real descent of two fair heroines 
into the subterraneous, and indeed submarine, regions; 
the mines, which are remarkable for many singularities ; 
Savery's tire-engine; and the remainder is employed in a. 
survey of the improvements in Whitehaven, by the great 
commerce which these mines occasion, and in a very elegant 
display of the beauties of the adjacent countr}'. 4. " Re- 
marks on twelve historical designs of Raphael, and the 
Museum Grajcum & Egyptiacum ;" illustrated by prints 
from his brother Mr. Richard Dalton's drawings. ' 

DALTON (lliciiARD), brother to the preceding, keeper 
of the pictures, medals, &,c, and antiquary to his majesty, 
was originally apprenticed to a coach-painter in Clerken- 
well, and after quitting his master, went to Rome to pur- 
sue the study of painting, where, about the year 1749, au 
invitation was given him by Roger Kynaston, esq, of 
Shrewsbury, in company with Mr. (afterwards sir John) 
Frederick, to accompany them to Naples. From that city 
they proceeded in a felucca, along the coast of Calabria, 
crossed over to Messina, and thence to Catania, where 
ihey met with lord Charlemont, Mr. Burton, afterwards 
lord Cunningham, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Murpiiy. They 
then sailed together in a ship, hired by lord Charlemont 
and his party, from Leghorn, with the intention of making 
that voyage ; the felucca followed first to Syracuse, then 

* Biog. Dram,— Hutchinson's Hist, of Cumberland. 



240 D A L T O N. 

to the isle of Malta, and afterwards separated ; but Mr. 
Dalton, accompanying the party in the ship, made the 
Toyage to Constantinople, several parts of Greece, and 
Egypt. This voyage led to his publication, which ap- 
peared in 1781, called, " Explanation of the set of prints 
relative to the manners, customs, &.c. of the present inha- 
bitants of Egypt, from discoveries made on the spot, 1749, 
etched and engraved by Richard Dalton, esq." On his 
return to England, he was, by the interest of his noble 
patron lord Charlemont, introduced to the notice of his 
present majesty, then prince of Wales, who, after his ac- 
cession to the throne, appointed him his librarian, an office 
for which it would appear he was but indifferently quali- 
fied, if Dr. Morell's report be true*. Soon after, it being 
determined to forrii a noble collection of drawings, medals, 
&.C. Mr. Dalton was sent to Italy in 17G3, to collect the 
various articles suited to the intention. The accomplish- 
ment of that object, however, was unfortunately attended 
with circumstances which gave rise to sir Robert Strange's 
memorable letter of complaint to the earl of Bute, in which 
he says, indignantl}-, although not altogether unjustly, that 
" persecution haunted him, even beyond the Alps, in the 
form of Mr. Dalton." On this subject it may here be 
necessary only to refer to sir Robert's letter, and to the 
authorities in the note. 

The object of Mr. Dalton's tour being achieved, he re- 
turned to London, and when the royal cabinet was adjust- 
ed, his department of librarian was changed to that of 
keeper of the drawings and medals; and in 1778, upon the 
death of Mr. Knapton, his majesty appointed him surveyor 
of the pictures in the palaces. Upon his first appointment 
at court, he had apartments at !St. James's palace, where 
he resided until his death Feb. 7, 1791. He was elected a 
fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1767 ; and when 
the society of artists was incorporated by charter, he was 
appointed treasurer, but soon resigned the office, in conse- 
quence of the dissentions which took place in that institu- 
tion. In 1764, he married Esther, daughter of Abraham 
DeheuUe, a silk weaver in Spitalhelds, by whom he had a 
considerable fortune. Having no issue by her, he left 
lOOO/. to a natural son, after the death of his brother Dr. 

* Dr. Mf.rpll reported that Mr. things that *' might be got again every 
Dalton, in garbling liis niajpsty's li- 'day '." 
brary, threw out several Caxtons, as 



B A L T O N. 241 

t)altoii's \vl Jow ; and directed all his pictures, antiques, 
drawings, &c. and otlier personal property, to be sold for 
the benefit of his servants. 

As an ariist, Mr. Edwards is of opinion that he never 
acquired any great powers. In one of the early exhibi- 
tions was a drawing exectjted by iiiin ; lite subject, an 
Egyptian dancing girl, which was the only specimen he 
ever exhibited : but he published several works at different 
periods of his life. The first was tlie collection of prints 
after the antique statues, a few of which he etched himself, 
hut they cannot be considered as masterly performances. 
Some of these are dated 1744; the names of the others 
may be found in our authorities, with many, and some not 
very pleasing, traits of personal character. ' 

DALTON (Michael), an English lawyer', was born 
somewhere in the county of Cambridge, in 1554, and bred 
to his profession in Lincoln's-inn, or Gray's-inn, and was 
formerly as well known for his book on the office of justice 
of the j)eace, as Burn is at present ; his " Duty of Sheriffs" 
was also a book in good esteem. In Neal's " History of the 
Puritans," mention is made of Mr. Dalton the queen's 
counsel, who, in 1590, pleaded against Mr. Udal, who 
was condemned for writinor a libel called " A demonstra- 
tion of Discipline ;" this was probably our Dalton, who 
also in 1592 supported the episcopal power in parliament, 
vi' which he was a member, when attacked by the puritan 
party. There is a MS. of his in the British Museum, en- 
titled " A Breviary or Chronology of the state of the Ro- 
man or Western church or Empire ; the decay of true re- 
ligion, and the rising of papacy, from the time of our 
Saviour till Martin Luther." In this he is styled Michael 
Dalton of Gray's-inn, esq. It is supposed that he died 
before the commencement of the civil war. ^ 

DALY (Daniel), an Irishman by birth, was born in the 
tounty of Kerry in 1595, and became a Dominican, adopt- 
ing the name of Dominicus a llosario. He was at first 
educated in a convent of his order at Tralee, but studied 
prnicipaliy in Flanders. The fame which he acquired for 
learning and piety procured him an invitation to Lisbon, to 
assist in founding a convent for the Irish Dommicans, 
which had been projected by Philip IV. then master of 

• » Edwards's Supplement to Walpole.— Gent. Mas. LXI. ISS, 195, 5'26, LXVL 
1[46. -i Fuller's Worthies,— iitr>'pe'>- Life ot WhitgiCt, p. 387.— Grau-tr/ 

Vol, XL R 



2i2 DALY. 

Poitufral. This being accomplislied, be Was elected the 
first superior. H^ also assisted at the foundation of a se- 
cond, for the natives of Ireiand, and so entirely gained 
the good opinion and confidence of the duke of Braganza 
when he ascended the throne, that in 1655, his majesty 
honoured him with the appointment of amliassador to 
Louis XIV. of France, to negociate a treaty of alliance and 
affinity between the two courts. At Paris he was equally 
valued in the character of churchtiian and statesman, and 
became highly popular by his works of piety and charity. 
He died at Lisbon June 30, 1662, and was interred in the 
chapel of his convent, with a monument and inscription ; 
from which we learn that at the time of his death he was 
bishop elect of Coimbra. He had l^efore refused the 
archbishopric of Goa. Among his ecclesiastical dignities, 
he was censor of the inquisition, visitor-general and vicar- 
general of the kingdom. One book only of his is known, 
which is probably a very curious one, " Initium, incremen- 
turn, et exitus familiae Giraldinorum Desmoniae comituin 
Palatinorum Kyerria in Hibernia, ac persecutionis haereti- 
corum descriptio, ex nonnullis fragmentis collecta ac lati- 
nitate donata," Lisbon, 1655, 8vo. ' 

DALZELL (Anthony), M. A. F. R. S. Edin. Greek 
professor in the university of Edinburgh, keeper of the 
university library, &.c. was born in 1750, in the parish of 
Katho, near Edinburgh, and was educated partly at the 
parish school, but principally at Edinburgh, where his 
learning and moral conduct induced the late earl of 
Lauderdale to appoint him tutor to his eldest son, lord 
Maitland, the j)resent earl. With this young nobleman, he 
attended a course of the lectures of the celebrated professor 
Millar at Glasgow, and afterwards accompanied his lord- 
ship to Paris. On his return from the continent, Mr. Dal- 
zcll, at the recommendation of the late earl of Lauderdale, 
was appointed to the professorship of Greek at Edinburgh, 
an office which he filled for many years with the highest 
reputation and advantage to the university. He has the 
credit indeed of reviving a taste for that language, which 
from various causes, had been disused at Edinburgh, or 
studied very superficially. To enable his pupils to prose- 
cute this accomplishment with the more effect, and imbibe 
u taste for wliat was elegant in the language, he compiled 

} Morcri. 



D A L Z E L L. 243 

and printed, at a great expence, a series of collections out 
of the Greek authors, including all those passages which 
he wished to explain in the course of his teaching. These 
were printed in several 8vo volumes, under the titles of 
*' Collectanea Minora," and " Collectanea Majora." He 
added to eacli volume short notes in Latin, explanatory of 
the dilKcult places, and the text was printed with great 
accuracy. The notes, which are in elegant Latin, are ad- 
mirable for brevity, perspicuity, and judgment. He at 
the same time composed and read to tiie students a series 
of lectures on the language and antiquities, the philosophy 
and history, tlie literature, eloquence, poetry, and fine arts 
of the Greeks. By these means he became eminently suc- 
cessful in disseminating a taste for classical literature in the 
university, nor was he less happy in the art of engao-ing 
the alfections and fixing the attention of his pupils on the 
objects which he considered as the fundamentals of all 
genuine scholarship. 

On the death of the learned professor of Oriental lan- 
guages, Dr. James Robertson, he was chosen to succeed 
him as keeper of the university library; and likewise suc- 
ceeded Dr. John Drysdale in the honourable appointment 
of principal clerk to the general assembly of the charch of 
Scotland, being the first layman who had ever been elected 
to that office. Besides an intimacy with his learned con- 
temporaries at home, he corresponded with Heyne and 
other eminent scholars abroad, and enriched the Edin- 
burgh Royal Society Transactions with a variety of in- 
teresting communications in biography, or on subjects of 
erudition. He also translated and illustrated Chevalier's 
description of the plain of Troy; and was editor of the 
sermons of Dr. Drysdale, whose daughter he married. 
This learned professor, whose private character was irt 
every respect amiable, and threw a lustre on his public 
services, died at Edinburgh, Dec. 8, ISOC. ^ 

DAMASCENUS (John), or John of Damascus, a learned 
priest and monk of the eighth century, surnamrd Mansur, 
was born at Damascus about 61 G. His father, who was 
rich, and held several considerable offices, had him in- 
structed in the sciences by an Italian monk, named Cosmo, 
and he was afterwards raised to the highest posts, and be- 
came chief counsellor to the prince of the Saracens, All 

> Gent. JIaa:. vol. LXXVII. p. 85. 
R 2 



214 DAMASCtNUS. 

these dignities, however, St. John Damascenus resigned, 
and entered himself a monk in the monastery of St. Sabas 
near Jerusalem, where he led a pious and exemplary life, 
and became famous in the church by his piety and writings. 
It is said, that the caliph Hiocham, having ordered his 
right hand to be cut otf on account of a forged letter by 
the emperor Leo, the hand was restored to him the night 
following by a miracle, as he slept; which miracle was 
univer.-allv known, or as much so as many other miracles 
propagated in the credulous ages. He died about the year 
760, aged eighty-fuur. He left an excellent treatise on the 
orthodox faith, and several other works published in Greek 
and Latin, by le Quien, 1712, 2 vols. fol. A hook en- 
titled '• Liber Barlaam et Josaphat IndiiE regis," is as- 
cribed to St. John Daniascenus, but without any founda- 
tion ; it has no date of time or place, but was printed about 
1470, and is scarce. There are several French translations 
of it, old, and little valued. Damascenus raav be reckoned 
the most learned man of the eighth century, if we except 
our countryman Bede ; and, what is less to ins credit, one 
of the first who mingled the Aristotelian philosophy with 
the Christian relicjion. He became amont; the Greeks 
what Thomas Aquinas was afterwards among the Latins, 
Except with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity, most of 
his notions were erroneous, and his learning and fame 
gave considerable support to the worshipping of images, 
and other superstitions of that time. 

One merit of Damascenus has not been generally no- 
ticed. He is celebrated by the writers of his life, and by 
ecclesiastical historians, as the compiler and reformer of 
chants in the Greek church, in the same manner as St. 
Gregory in the Roman. Leo Allatius tells us they were 
composed by J. Damascenus, and Zarlino goes still farther, 
and informs us, that in the first ages of Christianity th« 
ancient Greek notation by letters having been thrown aside, 
Damascenus invented new characters, which he accommo- 
dated to the Greek ecclesiastical tones ; and that these 
characters did not, like ours, merely 'express single sounds, 
but all the intervals used in melody ; as a semitone, tone, 
third minor, third major, &c. ascending and descending, 
with their diB'erent duration. This resembles, in many 
particulars, the notation of the ecclesiastical books of the 
Komvsh church, before* the time-table and characters in 



D A M A S C I U S. 245 

present use were invented, or, at least, generally re- 
ceived.' 

DAMASCIUS, a celebrated heathen philosopher and 
writer, of the stoic school as som'^ say, of die peripatetic 
according to others, was borii at Damascus, and flourished 
about 540, when the Goths reigned in Italy. If great 
masters can make a great scholar or phihjsopher, Daniascius 
had every advantage of this kind. 'I'u^on, we are told, 
was his preceptor in rhetoric ; Isidorns in logic ; Marinus, 
the successor of Proclus in the school of Athens, in geo- 
metry and arithmetic ; Zenodotus, the successor of Ma- 
rinus, in philosophy ; and Ammonius in astronomy, and 
the doctrines of Plato. He wrote the life of his master 
Isidorus, and dedicated it to Theodora, a very learned and 
philosophic lady, wiio had been a pupil of Isidorns. In 
this Life, which was copiously written, Daniascius fre- 
quently attacked the Christian religion ; yet obliquely, it 
is said, and with some reserve and timidity : for Chris- 
tianity was then too firmly estal>lished, and protected by its 
numbers, to endure any open attacks with impunity, espe- 
cially in a work so remarkable for obscurity, fanaticism, 
and imposture. Of this Life, however, we have nothing 
remaining, but some extracts which Photius has preserved ; 
•who also acquaints us with another work of Daniascius, of 
the philosophic or the theologic kind. This was divided 
into four books; 1. De admirandis operibus; 2. Admiran- 
doi narrationes de daemonibus ; 3. De animarum appari- 
tionibus post obitum admirandae narrationes. The title of 
the fourth has not been jjreserved. Damascius succeeded 
Theon in the rhetorical school, over which he presided 
nine years: and afterwards Isidorns in that of philosophy 
at Athens, in which situation it is supposed that he spent 
the latter part of his life. " 

DAMASUS, a celebrated pope, was born at Guimaraene 
in Spain, and succeeded Liberius in the year ;''66. Ursinns, 
or Ursicinus, opposed his election, and caused himself to be 
ordained bishop of Rome, which raised a sedition, in which 
many of the people were murdered. Ursinns was sent into 
exile by order of the emperor, but, returning to Italy in the 
3'ear 381, excited fresh troubles there. The Italian bishojjs, 
however, condemned him the .same year, in the council of 

' Gen. Diet — Mosheim. — Lnrdner. — Brurker. — Milnei's Cli. Tlist. vo). TIF. 
208. — Cave. — Bumcy's Hist, of Music, vol. 11. 2 Cave.^-Morcti. — Biucker. 



246 D A M A S U S. 

Aquileia, and he was banished for ever by the emperor 
Gratian, at their request: tlius Damasus remained in 
peaceful possession of his seat at Home. He held several 
councils, condeiimcd Ursaces, Valens, and Auxeiitius; 
took the partof Paulinns against Meletius, excommunicated 
Apolhnanus, Vitalus, and Timotheus ; and declared him- 
self against the Luciferians. Damasus had an illustrious se- 
cretary in St. Jerome. He governed the church of Rome 
with what the catholic writers term great glory, for eighteen 
years, and died in the year 384. Some of his letters re- 
main, Rome, 17 54, fol. with his life, in the library of the 
fathers, and in the Epist. Rom. Pont, of Constant, fol. He 
also left some Latin verses, which may be found in Mait- 
taire's Corpus Poetarum. Fabricius gives a very parti- 
cular account of his works. This pope is said to have in- 
troduced the custom of singing hallelujah in the church. 
He is more noted, however, for having extended the power 
and authority of the bishops of Rome, and laid the foun- 
dation of the custom of conferring upon certain bishops 
the title of vicars to the pope, by which they were enabled 
to perform several authoritative acts, which they could not 
by the mere virtue of episcopal power: hence the rights 
of bishops and synods became gradually and entirely de- 
pendent on the authority of the pope. ' 

DAMIAN, or DAMIANO (Peter), an eminent car- 
dinal, was born at Ravenna in the beginning of the eleventh 
centurj^ became a Benedictine, and, it is thought, would 
always have preferred solitude to the dignities of the 
church, if he had not been in some measure forced to ac- 
cept them. In 1057 he was created cardinal by j)ope 
Stephen IX. and under pope Nicolas U. was sent as papal 
legate to Milan, to reform certain clerical abuses, which 
he successfully accomplished, and even turned his argu- 
ments against his superiors, whom he found licentious, 
without any respect for their rank or power. Among other 
proofs of his zeal, he publicly condemned the liberty which 
the popes took of opposing the emperors in cases of war ; 
affirming, that the offices of emperor and pope are distinct, 
and that the empepors ought not to meddle with what be- 
longs to the popes, nor the popes with what belongs to 
the emperors. " As the son of God," says he, " sur- 
mounted all the obstacles of worldly power, not by the 

• Moreri. — Cave, — Lardner. — Fab. Bibl. Med. Lat. — Dupin. — Saxii Oiiomast. 



D A M I A N. 247 

severity of vengeance, but by the lively majesty of an in- 
vincible patience, so has lie taught us rather to bear the 
fury of the world with constancy, than to take up arms 
against those who offend us ; especially since between the 
royalty and the priesthood there is such a dibtinction of 
offices, that it belongs to the king to use secular arms, and 
to the priest to gird on the sword of the spirit, which is 
the word of God," &c. Damian described also in a verv 
lively manner the enormous vices of his age, in several of 
Iiis works; in his Gomorrhajus particularly, which, though 
pope Alexander II. thought fit to suppress it, lias never- 
theless been preserved. Disa|)pointed, however, in his 
hopes of producing any favourable change, he resigned all 
his preferments in the church in 1061, although he appears 
afterwards to have been employed on missions as legate. 
He died in 1073, and his writings, while in MS. must have 
been frequently read and admired, as we find that between 
five and six centuries after his death they were ordered to 
be printed by Clement VIII. who employed Constantine 
Cajelan as editor. This first edition was published at 
Rome in 3 vols. fol. 1606, 1608, 1615, and reprinted at 
Leyden, 1623, fol. In 1G40 Cajetan added a fourth vo- 
lume. The whole were afterwards reprinted at Paris in 
1642 and 1663, in a thick folio. These works consist of 
** Letters," of which a separate edition had been published 
at Paris, 1609, 4to, " Sermons," " Dissertations," &c. &.c.* 
DAMPIER (Capt. William), a celebrated English na- 
vigator, descended from a good family in Somersetshire, 
was born in 1652 ; but losing his father when very young, 
he was sent to sea, where he soon distinguished himself, 
particularly in the South Sea. He associated himself with 
capt. Cook, in order to cruize on the Spaniards; and, Aug, 
23, 1683, sailed from Achamac in Virginia for the Cape 
de Verde islands. After touching at several of them, he 
steered for the Streights of Magellan ; but, the wind being 
against them, they stood over for the Guinea coast, and in 
a tew days anchored at the mouth of Sherborough river, 
where the ship's crew were hospitably received by the in- 
habitants. He then proceeded to the South Seas through 
the Streights of Magellan ; and, arriving at the isle of Juan 
Fernandez, took on board a Moskito Indian, who had been 

' Gen. Diet. — IVIoreri in art. Pierre. — Fabricius Bibl. Lat. Med. Si Inf.->» 
Dupin, and Saxii Oiiomast. in Peter. 



248 D A M P I E R. 

left in that uninhabited place above three years before. 
After staying fourteen days at this island, they set sail 
April 8, 16S4, steering towards the line, off the islands of 
Peru and Chili ; took several prizes, and proceeded to the 
Gallipago islands, and from thence to cape Blanco, where 
captain Cook was interred. July 19, Mr. Edward Davis 
was appointed captain in the room of Cook, sailed the next 
day towards Rio Leja, and from thence to the gulph of 
Aniapalla ; and Sept. 20th came to an anchor in the island 
of Plata, Here they made a descent upon Plata, attacked 
the fort, and took it with little opposition. But finding 
that the governor and inhabitants had quitted the town, 
and carried off their money, goods, and provisions, they 
set fire to it, and afterwards sailed for Guaiquil, and at- 
tacked it, but without success. 

They entered now the bay of Panama : for their design 
was to look into some river unfrequented by the Spaniards, 
in search of canoes ; and therefore they endeavoured to 
make the river St. Jago, on account of its nearness to the 
island of Gallo, in which there is much gold, and safe an- 
chorage for ships. Dampier with some others, in four 
canoes, ventured to row six leagues up the river; but the 
Indians, at their approach, got into their canoes, and 
paddled away against the stream much faster than they 
could follow. They therefore returned the next morning 
in order to sail for the island of Gallo ; and in their ^▼ay 
took a Spanish pacquet-boat, sent with dis})atches from 
Panama to Lima, by which they learned that the armada, 
being arrived from Spain at Porto Bello, waited for the 
plate fleet from Lima, which made them resolve to ren- 
dezvous among the King's or Pearl Islands, by which all 
the ships bound to Panama from Lima must necessarily 
pass. On May 28th they discovered the Spanish fleet; 
but night approaching, they exchanged only a few shot. 
The Spanish admiral, by the artifice of a false light, got 
the weather-gage of them the next day, and came up to 
them with full sail, which obliged them to make a running 
fight of it ail round the bay of Panama, and thus their 
long-projected design ended unsuccessfully. They sailed 
now for ihe island of Quibo, where they found captain 
Harris; and as their late attempt at sea had been fruitless, 
they resolved to try their fortune by land, by attackmg the 
city of Leon, on the coast of Mexico. This place they 
took and buri}t, and proceeded to llio Leja, which thev 
filfio tooj^. 



D A M P I E R. 249 

Here Dampier left captain Davis, and went on board 
captain Swan, in order to satisfy his curiosity by obtain- 
ing^ a more perfect knowledge of the northern parts of 
Mexico. They continued sailing to the westward till they 
came to Guatuico, one of the best ports in the kingdom of 
Mexico ; and from thence to Cape Cerientes, where they 
waited some time in hopes of meeting with a galleon, of 
whicii tl>ey had received information. They continued 
cruizing off this cape till Jan. 1, when their pjovisions 
being exhausted, they steered to the valley of Valderas to 
procure a supply of beef. And while they were engaged 
in this necessary business, the Manilla ship passed by 
them to the eastward. After this they steered towards 
California, and anchored in one of the Tres Maria islands. 
Dampier, having been long sick of a dropsy, was here 
buried for about half an hour up to the neck in sand, 
which threw him into a profuse sweat; and being after- 
wards wrapped up warm, and put to bed in a tent, found 
great beneht from this extraordinary remedy. 

Their success in this part of the world having been very 
indifferent, and there appearing no probability of its mend- 
ing. Swan and Dampier agreed to steer their course for 
the East Indies. They sailed to St. John's island, and to 
the Piscadores, to Bouton island, to New Holland, to 
Triest; and arriving at Nicobar, Dampier with others was 
left on shore, and treated with great civility by the inha- 
bitants. He, however, left them, and arrived at the Eng- 
lish factory at Achen, where he became acquainted with 
captain Bowry, who would have persuaded him to sail with 
him to Persia in quality of boatswain : but he declined ac- 
cepting of this proposal, on account of the ill state of his 
health. He afterwards engaged with captain Weldon, un- 
der whom he made several trading voyages, for upwards 
of fifteen months, and afterwards entered as a gunner to 
an English factory at Bencoolen. Upon this coast he 
;^taid till 1691, and then embarked for England, when he 
was obliged to make his escape by creeping through one 
of the port-holes, for the governor had revoked his pro- 
mise of allowing him to depart; but he brought off his 
journal and most valuable papers. He arrived in the 
Downs Sept. 16 j and being in want of money, sold his 
property in a painted Indian prince, who was carried about 
for a sight, and shewn for money. He appears afterv\ards 
to have been concerned in an expedition concerted by the 
merchants of Bristol to the South Sea, commanded by cap- 



250 D A M P I E R. 

tain Woodes Rogers, which sailed in Aug. 1708, and re- 
turned Sept. 1711; a voyage attended with many singular 
circumstances, and a great number of curious and enter- 
taining events. We have no further particulars of Dam- 
pier's hfe or death. His " Voyage round the Workl" has 
gone through many editions, and the substance of it has 
been transterred to many collections of voyages. It was 
first published in 3 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1697.* 

DANCHET (Anthony), a French poet, was born at 
Riom in Auvergne in 1671 ; and went to Paris, where he 
distinguished himself very early in the republic of letters. 
At the age of nineteen he was invited to Chartres, to be 
professor of rhetoric ; which office he discharged with high 
repute for four years. Upon his return to Paris, he de- 
voted his labours entirely to the service of the theatre, for 
which he continued to write songs, operas, and tragedies, 
to the end of his life. He was admitted a member of the 
academy of inscriptions in 1706, and of the French aca- 
demy in 1712. He had a place in the king's library, and 
died at Paris Feb. 21, 174S. His works were collected and 
printed at Paris, 1751, in 4 vols. 12mo. As a man Dan- 
chet was highly esteemed for the qualities of his mind, and 
the mildness of his temper ; he was sincere, upright, and 
disinterested, and was an enemy to every species of satire 
and calumny, weapons too frequently used by poets and 
men of genius. Of this a singular instance is on record. 
One of his rivals having insulted him in a published satire, 
Danchet sent him privately an epigrammatic answer of the 
severest cast, which he assured him no other person had 
seen, and begged him to observe, that it was as easy as 
shameful for men of letters to embark in such kind of 
warfare. " 

DANCKERT, or DANCKERTS, is the name of a fa- 
mily of engravers of considerable reputation in Holland. 
Cornelius DANCKErsTs, who was born at Amsterdam in 
1561, established himself at Antwerp as a print-seller; 
but he did not suflfcr this employment to engross his whole 
time, as he engraved many portraits, landscapes, and his- 
torical pieces, as well from his own comj)ositions as from 
the designs of Berghem, Rembrandt, and others. His son, 
Danckekt Danckerts, who was born at Antwerp about 

» Preceding edit, of ihis Dictionary, taken chiefly from bis Voyage. 
* Moreri. — Did. Hist. 



D A N C K E R T. 251 

IfiOO, also engraved dilTerent subjects, as well from his 
own designs as from those of other artists ; and though 
}iis pieces are not so numerous as his father's, they sur- 
pass them in merit. Danckert combmed the point and 
the graver with very great success, and the pieces from 
Bergliem and Wouvermanns, which he has wrought in this 
manner, are much esteemed. 

John Danckerts, of the same family, a designer and 
engraver, about 1654- settled at Amsterdam; but being 
invited into England, he went to London, where he de- 
signed for the EngUsh Juvenal, the plates engraved by 
Hollar. This artist also engraved some plates. Henry 
Danckerts, his brother, was also bred an engraver, but 
afterwards became a landscape-painter. He was bvjrn at 
the Hague, but ^at an early age travelled into Italy, from 
whence he came to England. Here he enjoyed the favour 
of Charles II. who employed him to draw views ot" the 
British sea-ports, and royal palaces. Dm-ing the distur- 
bances which preceded the abdication of James II. he 
quitted E.ngland for Amsterdam, where he died soon after. 
The landscajies painted by this artist were numerous, and 
are chieHy to be found in England. Amongst them are 
Views of Windsor, Plymouth, Penzance, <kc. He also 
engraved from Vandyk, Titian, Jacopo Palnm, &c. Jus- 
Tcs Danckerts, of the same i'amdy, was a designer, en- 
graver, and print-seller, and resided in Amsterdam. .The 
following plates bear his name : the Portrait of Casimir, 
king of Poland; a ditto of William HI. prince of Orange; 
the Harbours of Amsterdam, a set of seven pieces. One 
other ot the name remains to be noticed, Cornelius 
Danckerts. The circumstance of both Milizia and 
Heinecken dating the birth of this architect in 1.561, and 
saying that he was born in Amsterdam (the very time and 
place of the birth ot" Cornelius Danckerts mentioned above), 
leads us to suspect some chronological error, if not, in- 
deed, that these two artists were one and the same person. 
Cornelius was originally a stonemason, but afterwards ap- 
plied himself to architecture. He constructed in the city 
of A;nsterJam many public and private buildings, highly 
creditable to his talents on account of their l)eauty and 
convenience, and, amongst others, three of the princii)al 
churches, the exchange, and the gate which leads tj Haar- 
lem, the most beautiful of the city. He had a son named 



252 D A N C K E R T. 

Peter, who was born at Amsterdam in 1605, and after- 
wards became painter to Uladislaiis, king of Poland. ' 
D'ANCOUKT. See ANCOURT. 
DANDINI (Hercules Francis), count, and professor 
of law at Padua, was born at Ancona in 1696, and arrived 
at high reputation as a lawyer. Among his works are, 1. 
" De Forensi scrihendi ratione." 2. " De ser\ itutibus 
praediorum interpretationes per epistolas," &c. lie died 
in November 1747, at the age of fifty-two, lamented on 
account of his learning and virtues.' 

DANDINI (Jerome), an Italian Jesuit, was born at 
Cesena in the ecclesiastical state in 1554, and was the 
first of his order who taught philosophy at Paris. He bore 
several honourable offices in the society ; for, besides teach- 
ing divinity at Padua, he was rector of the several colleges 
at Ferrara, Forli, Bologna, Parma, and Milan ; visitor in 
the provinces of Venice, Toulouse, and Guienne; provin- 
cial in Poland, and in the Milanese. He taught philosophy 
in Perugia, 1596, when he was appointed by Clement VIII. 
to be his nuncio to the Maronites of mount Lihanus. He 
embarked at Venice in July the same year, and returned 
to Rome in August the year following. The French trans- 
lation which was made of his journey to Mount Libanus 
by father Simon, was printed at Paris in 1675, and re- 
printed at the Hague in 1685, Dandini's book was printed 
at Cesena in 1656, under the title of " Missione aposto- 
lica al patriarcha e Maroniti del Monte Libano." It con- 
tains the relation of his journey to the Maronites and to 
Jerusalem j but father Simon has left out the journey to 
Jerusalem in his translation, because, he says, there is 
nothing in it but what has been observed by travellers al- 
ready. Dandini died at Forli, 1634, aged eighty. His 
commentary on the three books of Aristotle " de Anima" 
was printed at Paris, 1611, in folio ; and after his death 
his " Ethica sacra, de virtutibus et vitiis," was printed at 
Cesena, 1651, fol. ' 

DANDINI (CiCSAR), an historical painter, was born at 
Florence in 1595, and v/as the elder brother and first in- 
structor of Vincent Dandini, the uncle of Pietro. This 
master had successively studied as a disciple with Curradi, 
Passignano, and Christofano Allori ; from whom he ac-. 

' Strutt. — Walpole.— Rees's Cyclopaedia. 

' Fabroni Vitae Italorum. — Diet. Hist. 3 Gen, Diet, — Morefj. 



D A N D I N I. 233 

<Juired a very pleasing but fugitive manner of colouring. 
He was extremely correct in his drawing, and finished iiis 
pictures highly. His best altar-piece is at Ancona, and 
several other noble altar-pieces in the churches of Flo- 
rence are of his hand ; one, which is in the chapel I'An- 
nonciata, is particularly admired. He died in 1658. ^ 

DANDINI (Vincent), brother to the preceding, was 
born at Florence in 1607. After having been taught the 
first rudiments of his art by his brother, he studied some 
time at Rome under Pietro da Cortona, and copied with 
the greatest assiduity the master-pieces of art in the palaces 
and temples of that city. He was considered one of the 
best of Cortona's scholars, and met with ample encourage- 
ment from tlie grand duke, as well as from private persons, 
on his return to Florence. One of his best altar-pieces, 
which are frequent at Florence, is the Conception of the 
Virgin, in the church of Ognisanti. ^ 

DANDINI (RjETRO), an eminent painter, nephew to 
the preceding, was born at Florence in 1646, and received 
his first instruction in the art of painting from Valerio 
iJpada, who excelled in small drawings with a pen. Whilst 
he was under the tuition of that artist he gave such evident 
proofs of genius, that he was then placed as a disciple with 
his uncle Vincent. He afterwards travelled through most 
of the cities of Italy, studying the works of those who 
were most distinguished ; and resided for a long time at 
Venice, where he copied the paintings of Titian, Tinto- 
retto, and Paolo Veronese. He next visited Parma and 
Modena, to study the works of Correggio ; omitting no 
opportunity that might contribute to improve his hand or 
his judgment. When he returned to Florence, the grand 
duke Cosmo III. the grand duchess Victoria, and the 
prince Ferdinand, kept him perpetually em[)loyed, in 
fresco painting as well as in oil ; his subjects being taken 
not only from sacred or fabulous history, but from his own 
invention and fancy, which frequently furnished him with 
such as were odd and singular, and especially with whim- 
sical caricatures. He died in 1712. — This master had an 
extraordinary talent for imitating the style of even the 
most celebrated ancient painters of every school, particu- 
larly Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto ; and with a force 
and elegance, equal to his subjects of history, he painted 

' Pilkipytou. * Laozi. — Rees't CyclopseJia. 



254 D A N D I NM. 

poi-traits, landscapes, architecture, flowers, fruit, battles, 
animals of all kinds, and likewise sea-pieces ; proving 
himself an universal artist, and excellent in every thing he 
undertook. Mr. Fuseli, however, says that the avidity of 
gain led him to dispatch and a general mediocrity, com- 
pensated by little more than the a hnirable freedom of his 
pencil. He exerted his powers according to the price he 
received for his work: thev are seen to advantage in the 
cupolas of S. Maria Maddalena, in various frescos of the 
ducal palace and villas, and in the public hall of Pisa, 
where he represented the taking of Jerusalem. There are 
likewise altar-pieces which shew his merit : that of St. 
Francis in S. Maria Maggiore, and another of S. Piccolo- 
mini saying mass in the church a'Servi, a pleasing ani- 
mated performance. He had a son, Octavio, who proved 
not inferior to him in any branch of his profession, and 
was an honour to his family and his country. ' 

DANDOLO (Andrew), doge of Venke, merits some 
notice here as one of the first historians of his country. 
He was born in 1310, and in 1344 became doge, being 
not only distinguished for military and political knowledge, 
but for considerable attainments in literature. By his 
means Venice was first enabled to extend her commerce to 
Eg}pt, which, however, had the bad effect of involving 
Venice and Genoa in a war, in the course of which he lost 
his life in 1354. As an author he is mentioned for his 
" Chronicle of Venice," which comprehends the history 
of the republic from its foundation to the year 1342 ; and 
to him has been ascribed the compilation of the sixth 
book of Venetian statutes. His chronicle obtained con- 
siderable reputation for impartiality, and for the exhibition 
of authentic documents which the author produced to sub- 
stantiate his facts. Petrarch, with whom he corresponded, 
Blondus, Justinian, Sabellicus, Leander, and Cuspinian, 
always niention this Chronicle with praise. It is inserted 
in Muratori's collection, with a continuation to 1388, by 
Caresino. ' 

DANDRE-BARDON (Michael Francis), one of the 
professors of the academy of painting, &c. was born May 
22, 1700, at Aix in Provence, and was first intended for 
the study of the law, but disliking it at the outset, he took 

* Pilkiniiton, original edit'on, and Fuseli's. 
8 Moreri.— Saxii Ouomaslicoa. 



DANDRE-BARDON. 255 

lessons in painting from Vanloo and De I'roy, and soon 
distinguislied himself botii as a painter and as a writer. He 
succeeded mure particularly in historical pictures, and un- 
doubtedly had an affection for all the arts, was a man of 
considerable learning, and in society was sensible, upright, 
and friendly. He died at Marseilles, where he was di- 
rector of the academy, April 14, 17»3. Some of his 
writings gained him much reputation. The principal of them 
are, l.*'De I'utilite d'un Cours d'Histoire pour les artistes," 
1751. 2. " Principes du Dessin," 1754, l2mo. 3. *' Anec- 
^dotes sur la Mort de Bouchardon," 1764. 4. " Vie de 
Carle Vanloo," 1765, 12mo. 5. *' Monumens de la ville 
de Reims," 1765, 12mo. 6. " Traite de Peiuture," 1765, 
2 vols. 12mo. 7. *' Histoire universelle relative aux arts," 
1769, 3 vols. l-2mo. 8. " Costumes des ancieiis peuples," 
1776, 4to. Tliis curious collection was republished in a 
very enlarged form by Cochin, in 4 vols. 1786 and 1792, 
4to. Dandre-Bardon wrote also some poetry, but that his 
countrymen seem inclined' to forget.' 

DANEAU, or DANiEUS (Lambert), an eminent 
French protestant divine, was born at Orleans about the 
year 1530. Having at first an inclination for the law, he 
studied that science in his native city for four years under 
Anne du Bourg, then a teacher of high reputation, and 
who, after holding the office of clerk of the parliament of 
Paris for two years, was strangled and burnt, Dec. 20, 
1559, for his adherence to the protestant faith. Affected 
by the constancy with which his master suffered, and of 
which he appears to have been an eye-witness, and refer- 
ring such constancy to its proper source, Daneau embraced 
the pri-nciples of the deceased martyr, and the following 
year retired to Geneva, where he could enjoy his religion 
wnmolested. From this tiuie he gave over all thoughts of 
the law, and began the stud}' of divinity, in which he made 
such progress as to be acknowledged one of the ablest di- 
vines of the protestant persuasion. At Geneva he became 
one of their preachers, and professor of divinity. In I5SI 
he was invited to Leyden in the same character, and taught 
there about a year. He at length returned to France, and 
after residing some time at Orthes, finally took up his abode 
at Castres, where he exercised the functions of the minis- 
try until the year 1596, when he died. His works are very 

* Diet. Hist, in art. Bardic, 



256 D A N E A U. 

numerous. A considerable collection of them Was pab^ 
Jished by himself at Geneva in 1583, in a large folio volume, 
divided into three classes, didactic, exegetic, and polemic. 
But, besides these, Nicerou and other authors give a very 
large catalogue of separate publications, commentaries on 
the Holy Scriptures ; and moral, historical, and geogra- 
phical treatises. One of these, *' Pn'mi mundi antiqtiitatum 
sectiones quatuor," was published in English by Thomas 
Twine, under the title of "The wonderful workmanship 
of the World," 1578, 4to. His " Les Sorciers" was also 
published here in 1564, under the title, " A Dialogue of 
Witches.'" 

DANES (PtTER), born in 1497, at Paris, of a noble 
family, studied at the college of Navarre, and was the 
pupil of Budeus and of John Lascaris. Being appointed 
b}' Francis I. to open the Greek school at the college-royal, 
he was professor there for five years, and had scholars that 
afterwards signalized themselves. He next became pre- 
ceptor and confessor to the dauphin, afterwards Francis H. 
He was sent to the council of Trent, where he delivered a 
very celebrated speech in 1546, which was afterwards pub- 
lished ; and during the session of this council he was made 
bishop of Lavaur, Sponde and de Thou have handed down 
to us an ingenious answer of this prelate. Nicholas 
Pseaume, bishop of Verdun, sjieaking very freely one day 
in the council, the bishop of Orvietta looking at the 
French, said to them with a sarcastic smile, " Gallus can- 
tat," (the cock crows), " Utinam," replied Danes, " ad 
istud Gallicinium Petrus resipisceret !" (I wish that Peter 
would repent at this cock's crowing.) This prelate died at 
Paris the 23d of April, 1577, at the age of 80. He had 
been married. When news was brought him of the death 
of his only son, he retired for a moment into his closet ; 
and, on rejoining the company, " Let us be comforted," 
said he, " the poor have gained their cause," alluding to 
liis being wont to distribute a part of his revenues among 
the poor, which he now thought he might increase. With 
the erudition of a true scholar he had the talent of speaking 
well, integrity of character, and a great simplicity of man- 
ners. His custom was to write much, and almost always 
to conceal his name. It has been suspected by some 

• Melchior Adam. — Nieeron, vol. XXVII. — Frehcri Th«atnim. — Bailj^et- 
J»Jj(eiueiis.— Morcii.— Saxii Onoinasticoov 



DANES. 257 

critics that the tenth book of the history of France, by 
Paulus ^milius, is his. At least it was Danes who sent it 
from Venice to the printer Vascosan. His " Opuscuia" 
were collected and printed in 1731, 4to, by the car^ of 
Peter Hilary Danes, of the same family with the bishop of 
Lavaur, who added the life of the author. The ahbe 
Lenglet du Fresnoi attributes to P. Danes, two Apologies 
for king Henry II. printed in Latin in 1542, 4to. One 
publication of Danes's merits particular notice, viz. aa 
edition of Pliny the elder, very beautiful and correct, 
Paris, 1532, folio. This, for whatever reason, bethought 
proper to publish under the name of Bellocirius, i. e. Bel- 
letiere, the name of one of his servants. The short and 
elegant preface, so highly praised by Rezzonicus in his 
*' Disquisitiones Pliniani," is to be found among our author's 
" Opuscula." This edition is so rare on the continent that 
Rezzonicus was able to find only two copies of it in Spain, 
and not a single one in Italy ; and Ernesti pronounces it 
as valuable as it is rare. ' 

DANET (Petek), a French cure at Paris, and after- 
wards abbe of St. Nicholas de Verdun, of which he took 
possession in 1674, devoted the principal part of his life to 
grammatical studies, and produced some works which at 
that time were important to the literature of his countr}-. 
His first publication appeared under the title of " Radices 
Lingute Latinie," 8vo, a work somewhat incorrectly printed, 
which was followed by his two Dictionaries, both in 4to, 
French and Latin, and Latin and French, in which the 
Latin part was considered as best executed. Although 
both have been supplanted by works more ample and 
accurate, they could not fail at that time of facilitating the 
study of the Latin among his countrymen. He published 
also, " Dictionarium antiquitatum Romanarum et Grseca- 
rum," for the use of the dauphin, Paris, 1698 and 1701, 
4to, and published in English at London in 1700. Danet 
being one of the scholars appointed as editors of the Del- 
phin classics, produced the Phoedrus, which, although it 
has been often printed, is reckoned inferior to the subse- 
quent editions. He died at Paris in 1709. His contem- 
porary Baillet has spoken with great candour of all his 
publications.* 

> Niceron, vol. XIX. — Moreri. — Fieheri Theatrum. — Dibd'm's Classics.-* 
Saxii Oiiomasticon. 
2 Moreri. — Diet, Hist. — Baillet Jugemens, 

Vol. XI. S 



25S D A N G E A U. 

DANGEAU (Louis Courcillon de), a French abbe, 
and a man of family, was the son of Louis de Courcillon, 
lord of Dangeau, &c. by a daughter of the celebrated Ples- 
sis-JMotnay. He was born in January 1643, and educated 
in the protestant religion, which was that of his family, and 
which he professed in 1667, when envoy extraordinary in 
Poland ; but he was afterwards induced to become a Ro- 
man catholic, and entered into the church, in which he 
held some benefices, although none of such importance as 
might have been expected from his merits and family in- 
terest. In 1671 he purchased the office of reader to the 
king, which he sold again in 1685. In 1680 the king- 
gave him the abbey of Fontaine- Daniel, and in 1710 that 
of Clermont, and he was also prior of Gournay and St. 
Anioul. He devoted himself, however, principally to the 
belles lettres, the study of which he endeavoured to faci- 
litate by various new modes of instruction, some of which 
were successful, and others rather whimsical. In the same 
wa}', by some new expedients, he endeavoured to increase 
the knowledge of history, geography, heraldry, grammar, 
&c. and his services were so highly esteemed, that in 1682 
he was admitted into the French academy, and in 1698 
into that of the Ricovrati of Padua. His own house, in- 
deed, was a species of academ}', where men of taste and 
learning were invited to assemble once a week for conver- 
sation. The abbe Dangeau was an accomplished scholar : 
besides the sciences we have mentioned, he knew Greek, 
Latin, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, &c. Being 
admitted into the confidence of his sovereign, he took fre- 
quent opportunities to promote learning and learned men, 
and along with his brother the n)arquis Dangeau estab- 
lished a school for the education of young men of family, 
the superintendance of which he took upon himself; but 
this did not last above ten years, the wars having obliged 
the king to withdraw the pecuniar3- assistance he had given, 
a striking proof of the necessities to which Louis XIV. was 
sometimes driven by his ambition. He died Jan. 1, 1723, 
leaving the character of aman whose virtues were superior to 
his knowledge, extensive as the latter was. "His huuianity 
towards the sons and dan<ihters of misfortune was such 
(says his eulogist M. d'Alembert), that, with but a mode- 
rate fortune, lie was lavish of his bounty towards the poor, 
and added to his benefits the more uncommon benefit of 
concealing them. He possessed that prudent oeconomy. 



t) A N G E A U. 259 

xt'ithout which there can he no generosity ; and which, 
rtever dissipating for the sake of giving continually, is 
always giving with propriety. His heart was formed for 
friendshij), and for that reason he was not careless in be- 
stowing it; but when once it was obtained, it was settled 
for ever. It" he had any defect, it was perhaps too much 
indulgence for the faults and weaknesi-es of mankinti ; a 
defect, which by its scarceness is almost a virtue, and of 
which few persons have to reproach themselves, even in 
regard to their friends. He possessed in the highest de- 
gree that knowledge of the worUl and of man, which nei- 
ther books nor genius ever gave the philosopher, while 
neglecting the commerce of liis fellow creatures. Enjoy- 
ing the esteem and the confidence of all the great men in 
the kingdom, no one had better advice to give in the most 
important affairs. He kept inviolably the secrets of others 
as well as his own. Yet his generous, delicate, and honest 
soul disdained dissimulation, and his prudence was too en- 
lightened to be mistaken for artifice. Easy and affable in 
company, but preferring truth in all things, he never dis- 
puted except in its defence : accordingly the lively inte- 
rest he shewed for truth on all such occasions gave him in 
the eyes of the generality an air of obstinacy, which truth 
is much less likely to find among mankind than a cold and 
criminal indifference." 

He wrote above an hundred treatises on different sub- 
jects of history, grammar, geography, &c. the greater part 
of which remained in manuscript, and of those which were 
published, many soon became very scarce, as it was his 
custom to print only a few copies for distribution among 
his friends. 1. " Quatre Dialogues," on the immortality 
of the soul, the existence of God, Sec. Paris, 1684, 12mo, 
with a vignette of Sebastian le Cierc to each dialogue. 
This was animadverted upon by the celebrated Jurieu in 
" Apologie d'un tour nouveau pour les Quatre Dialogues, 
&c." Cologne (the Hague), 1685. 2. " Cartes Geogra- 
phiques. Tables Chronologiques, Tables Genealogiques, 
&c." 1693, 12mo. 3. " Lettre sur I'ortographe aM.de 
Poutchartrain," 1693, I2mo. 4. "Reflexions sur toutes 
les parties de la Grammaire," 1694, 12mo. In this and 
the preceding, he attempts some new modes of spelling, 
which have never been adopted. 5. " Nouvelle methods 
de Geographic histonque, &c." 1697, folio. 6. " Les 
principes du Blason en quatorze planches," Paris, 1709, 

S 3 



260 D A N G E A U. 



11 



folio, reprinted in 1715, 4to. 7. " Essais de Grammaire, 
1711, 8vo. 8. " Reflexions sur la Grammaire Frangoise,'* 
1717, Svo, with some other treatises on the same subjects : 
he also invented a historical game of the kings of France, 
somewhat like what have lately been introduced in our 
schools. The best of the above treatises were reprinted 
by the abbe Olivet in 1734, under the title of " Opuscules 
sur la langue Fran9aise." * 

DANGEAU (Philip de Courcillon, Marquis de), 
brother of the preceding, was born in 1638. The endow- 
ments of his mind and person advanced him at the court of 
Louis XIV. and his decided taste for literature obtained 
him a place in the French academy, and in that of sciences. 
He died at Paris in 1720, at the age of eighty-two, privy- 
councillor, knight of several orders, grand-master of the 
royal and military order of Notre Dame du Mont Carmel, 
and of St. Lazare de Jerusalem. On being invested with 
this last dignity, he paid greater attention than had been 
before shewn to the choice of the chevaliers, and revived 
the ancient pomp at their reception, which the wits endea- 
voured to turn into ridicule. But what was superior to 
all ridicule was, that by his care he procured the foun- 
dation of upwards of twenty-five commanderies, and em- 
ployed the revenues of the office of grand-master, to the 
education of twelve young gentlemen of the best nobility 
of the kingdom, as has been mentioned in our account of 
Lis brother. At the court (says Fontenelle), where there 
is but little faith in probity and virtue, he always preserved 
his reputation clear and entire. His conversation, his 
manners, all savoured of a politeness which was far less 
that of a man of fashion, than of a friendly and obliging 
person. His wish at all times to play the part of a grandee, 
might have been passed over, on account of the worthiness 
of his character. Madame de Montespan, who thought 
him not qualified exactly for that, said rather tartly, that 
it Wcis impossible not to love him, and not to laugh at him. 
His first wife was Frances Morin, sister to the marechal 
d'Estrees, and his second the countess de Louvestein, of 
the palatine house. There are extant by the marquis de 
Dangeau, memoirs in manuscript, from whence Voltaire, 
Henault, and la Beaumelle, have taken many curious anec- 
dotes ', but it was not always Dangeau, says Voltaire, who 

* Moreri in Courcillou, — Niceron. — Eloges by D'Alembert. 



D A N G E A U. 261 

made these memoirs : " It was (according to this satirist) 
an old stupid valet-de-chambre, who thought proper to 
make manuscript gazettes of all the nonsense, right or 
wrong, that he could pick up in the anti-chambers," by 
which Vohaire woukl insinuate that the memoirs which 
bear the name of the marquis de Dangeau are to be read 
with caution. There is another Httle work of his, also in 
manuscript, in which he gives the picture of Louis XIV. 
in a very interesting mannfer, such as he was among his 
courtiers. ' 

DANICAN. See PHILIDOR. 

DANIEL (Arnaud), so in Moreri, but in other French 
biographical works placed under Arnaud, one of the trou- 
badours of the twelfth century, was born of noble parents, 
in the castle of Ribeyrac, in Pevigord. If we may judge 
of his merit by his works which have descended to us, it 
would be difficult to give him the preference to his bre- 
thren in that century, yet the old Italian critics assign him 
the first place. Dante in particular speaks of him as the 
best writer of tender verses in the Proven^-al language, and 
seems equally partial to the prose part of his romances ; 
Petrarch also, who places him at the head of the Provencal 
poets, calls him the great master of love, and has honoured 
him so far as to conclude one of his own stanzas with a 
verse from Arnaud. It has, however, been doubted whe- 
ther this verse be the production of Arnaud, and Crescim- 
beni has employed a long digression in discussing the ques- 
tion. The best, however, of Arnaud's productions must 
have been lost, for what remain by no means support the 
character which Dante and Petrarch have given of him. 
He has the credit of inventing that species of composition 
called the sestine, and attached great importance to rhyrpe. 
Besides his poetical talents, he had musical skill, and com- 
posed some of his own songs. MilloL speaks of having 
seen seventeen pieces by Arnaud, and there are eight in 
the imperial library at Paris, with a life of him. One of 
his works is entitled '* Fantaumasias del Paganisme." He 
is supposed to have died about llSy.** 

DANIEL (Gabriel), a very ingenious and learned 
Frenchman, was born at Roan, Feb. 8, 1649; and in Sept. 
1667, entered as a novitiate into the society of the Jesuits, 

' Moreri in Courcillon. 

^ Moreri in Daniel,— Biog. Universelle, and Diet, Hist, iu Arnaud. 



?63 DANIEL. 

He read lectures upon polite literature, upon philosophy, 
and theology, at several places in the early part of his life 
by the desire of his superiors, after which he appears to 
have devoted his time to his historical and controversial 
works. One of his earliest productions was his *' Voyage 
to the world of Descartes," a satirical confutation of the 
Cartesian philosophy, under the appearance of a romance, 
which was so well received, that it was soon translated into 
several languages ; into English, into Italian, &c. It has 
underQ:one several editions, which have been revised and 
enlarged by the author ; and to that printed in 1703 there 
were added, by way of supplement, two or three pieces, 
which have a connection with the subject. They are en- 
titled, " New diflficulties proposed to the author of the 
Voyage," &c. concerning the consciousness or perception 
of brutes : with a refutation of two defences of Descartes' ai 
general system of the world. 

But the work which will longest perpetuate the name of. 
father Daniel, is, " The History of France," published at 
Paris, 1713, in 3 vols. fol. a second edition of which he 
brought out at Paris, 1722, in 7 vols. 4to, revised, cor- 
rected, augmented, and enriched with several authentic 
medals ; and a very pompous edition of it was afterwards 
published, with a continuation, but in the way of annals 
only, from the death of Henry IV. in 1610, where father 
Daniel stopped, to the end of Lewis XIV. He was the 
author of some other works ; of an answer to the Provincial 
Letters, entitled 1. Dialogues between Cleander and Eu- 
doxus. This book in less than two years ran through 
twelve editions ; it was translated into Latin by father Ju- 
venci ; and afterwards into Italian, English, and Spanish, 
but it is a weak attack, after ail, on Pascal. 2. Two 
letters of M. Abbot to Eudoxus, by way of remarks upon 
the new apology for the Provincial Letters. 3. Ten letters 
to father Alexander, in which he draws a parallel between 
the doctrine of the Thomists and the Jesuits, upon the 
subjects of probability and grace. 4. The system of Lewis 
de Leon concerning the sacrament. 5. A defence of St. 
Augustin against a book supposed to be written by Launoi. 
6. Four letters upon the argument of the book entitled A 
defence of St. Augustin. 7. A theological tract, touching 
the efficacy of grace, in two volumes. In the second vo- 
lume, he answers Serry's book, entitled " Schola Thoniis^ 
tica vindicata," a remonstrance to the lord archbishop of 



DANIEL. 263 

Hheims, occasioned by his order published July 15, 1697. 
This performance of father Daniel's was often primed, and 
also translated by Juvenci into Latin. He piihlished other 
smaller works, which were all collected and printed in 
3 vols. 4to. 

Father Daniel was superior of the Jesuits at Paris, and 
died there June 23, 1728. By his death, that society 
lost one of the greatest ornaments they ever had. His 
*' History," to which Voltaire and some modern French 
critics have objected, and his " Histoire de la Milice Fran- 
^oise," 2 vols. 4to, although equally liable to censure on 
account of its prolixity, are works which gave him a very 
hiffh rank amouij French historians. The best edition of 
his hi.story is that of 1757, 17 vols. 4to. * 

DANIEL (Peteu), a scholar and antiquary of the six- 
teenth century, was an advocate at Orleans, where he 
mostly resided, and assessor to the abbey of St. Benoit- 
sur- Loire, which he was frequently obliged to visit, in the 
discharge of his office. His laste for polite literature, and 
general reputation for such learning as was not very com- 
mon in his time, recommended him to the esteem of the 
cardinal de Chatillon, a liberal Maecenas of that age. The 
abbey of St. Benoit having been pillaged during the war 
in 1562, Daniel with great difficulty saved some manu- 
scripts, and purchased others from the soldiers, and re- 
moved them to Orleans. Among these was the Commen- 
tary of Servius on Virgil, which he published in 1600; 
and the " Aulularia" of Plautus, which he liad printed im- 
mediately after rescuing these MSS. in 1564. He pre- 
pared also an edition of Petronius, but it was not published 
until 1629, after his death. This event took place at 
Paris, in 1603, when his friends Paul Petau, and James 
Bongars, purchased his library for 1500 livrcs, and di- 
vided the MSS. between them. Among other eminent men, 
Daniel was particularly intimate with Buchanan, and has 
been highly praised by Scioppius, Scaliger, and Turnebus." 
DANIEL (Samuel), an English poet and historian, the 
son of a music-master, was born near Taunton, in Somer- 
setshire, in 1562. In 1579 he was admitted a conunoner 
of Magdalen-hall, Oxford, where he continued about three 
years, and by the help of an excellent tutor, made con- 

> Moreri. — Diet. Hist. 

i* Moreri. — Irving's ^lemoirs of Buchanan. — Baillet JugenaeiM. 



264. DANIEL. 

siderable improvement in academical studies. He left th« 
iiniversity, however, witliout taking a degree, and pursued 
the study of history and poetry under the patronage of the 
earl of Pembroke's family. This he thankfully acknow- 
ledges in his " Defence of Rhime," which is printed in 
the late edition of his works, as a necessary document to 
illustrate the ideas of poetry entertained in his time. To 
the same family he was probably indebted for an university 
education, as no notice occurs of his father, who, if a 
music-master, could not well have escaped the researches 
of Dr. Barney. The first of his productions, at the age 
of twenty- three, was a translation of Paulus Jovius's " Dis- 
course of Rare Inventions, both military and amorous, 
called Imprese," London, 1585, 8vo, to which he pre- 
fixed an ingenious preface. He afterwards became tutor 
to the lady Anne Clifford, sole daughter and heiress to 
George, earl of Cumberland, a lady of very high accom- 
plishments, spirit, and intrepidity. To her, when at the 
age of thirteen, he addressed a delicate admonitory epistle. 
She was married, first to Richard, earl of Dorset, and af- 
terwards to the earl of Pembroke, " that memorable sim- 
pleton," says lord Orford, " with whom Butler has so 
much diverted himself" The pillar which she erected im 
the county of Westmoreland, on the road-side between 
Penrith and Appleby, the spot where she took her last 
leave of her mother, 

still records, beyond a pencil's power. 



The silent sorrows of a parting hour ; 
Still to the musing pilgrim points the place 
Her sainted spirit most delights to trace." 

Among her other munificent acts, was a monument to the 
memory of our poet, on which she caused it to be en- 
graven that she had been his pupil ; a circumstance which 
she seems to have remembered with delight, at the dis- 
tance of more than half a century after his decease. 

At the death of Spenser, Daniel, according to Anthony 
Wood, was appointed poet-laureat to queen Elizabeth ; 
but Mr. Malone, whose researches lead to more decisive 
accuracy, considers him only as a volunteer laureat, like 
Jonson, Dckker, and others who furnished the court with 
masks and pageants. In king James's reign he was made 
gentleman extraordinary, and afterwards one of the grooms 
of the privy-chamber to the queen consort, who took great 
delight in his conversation and writings. Some of his bio- 



DANIEL. 265 

graphers attribute this promotion to the interest of his 
brother-in-law, liorio, the Itahan lexicographer, but it is 
perhaps more probable that he owed it to the Pembroke 
family. Mrs. Cooper, in her Muses' Library, observes, 
that in the introduction to his poem on the civil wars, he 
acknowledges the friendship of one of the noble family of 
Mountjoy ; and this, adds our female critic, is the more 
grateful and sincere, as it was published after the death of 
his benefactor. He now rented a small house and garden 
in Old-street, in the parish of St. Luke's, London, where 
he conijiosed most of his dramatic ])ieces, and enjoyed the 
friendship of Shakspeare, Marlowe, and Chapman, as well 
as of many persons of rank ; but he appears to have been 
dissatisfied with the opinions entertained of his poetical 
talents ; and towards the end of his life retired to a farm, 
which he had at Beckington, near Philips-Norton, in So- 
mersetshire, and where, after some time devoted to study 
and contemplation, he died, and was buried Oct. 14, 1619. 
He had been married to his wife Justina, several years, but 
left no issue. 

Of Daniel's personal history we know little, but the in- 
ferences to be drawn from his works are highly favourable. 
He is much praised by his contemporaries, although chiefly 
with a view to his genius. Edmund Bolton, in a criticism 
on the style of our poets before 1600, says, *' The works 
of Samuel Daniel containe somewhat aflat, but yet withal 
a very pure and copious English, and words as warrantable 
as any man's, and fitter perhaps for prose than measure;'* 
and Gabriel Harvey, in his " Foure Letters and Certaine 
Sonnets," cordially recommends him, with others, for his 
studious endeavours to enrich and polish his native tongue. 

Fuller's account, who lived near enough to the time of 
his death to have known something of his character, is 
worth transcribing: 

" He was born not far from Taunton, in this county 
(Somersetshire), whose father was a master of musick ; and 
his harmonious mind made an impression on his son's ge- 
nius, who proved an exquisite poet. He car'ied in his 
Christian and surname, two holy prophets, his monitors so 
to qualify his raptures, that he abhorred all prophaneness. 
He was also a judicious historian, witness his Lives of our 
English kings since the conquest, until king Edward IlL 
wherein he hath the happiness to reconcile brevity with 
clearness, qualities of great distance in other authors. He 
was a servant in ordinary to queen Aune, who allowed him 



S66 DANIEL. 

a fair salary. Arthe tortoise burieth himself all the winter 
under the ground, so Mr. Daniel would lye hid at his 
garden-house in Old-street, nigh London, for some months 
together (the more retiredly to enjoy the company of the 
muses) and then would appear in publick, to converse with 
his friends, whereof Dr. Cowel and Mr. Camden were 
principal. Some tax him to smack of the old cask, as re- 
senting of the Romish religion, but they have a quicker 
palate than I, who can make any such discovery. Li his 
old age he turned husbandman, and rented a farm in ^V'ilt- 
shire, nigh the Devizes. I can give no account how he 
thrived thereupon. For though he was well versed in 
Virgil, his fellow-husbandman-poet, yet there is more re- 
quired to make a rich farmer, than only to say his Georgics 
by heart; and I question whether his Italian will fit our 
English husbandry. Besides, I suspect that Mr. Daniel 
his fancy was too fine and sublimated to be wrought down 
to his private profit." 

His works consist of: 1. '' The Complaint of Rosa- 
mond," Lond. 1594, 1598, 1611, and 1623, 4to. 2. Va- 
rious " Sonnets" to Delia, 'i. " Tragedy of Cleopatra," 
Lond. 1594, 1598, 4to. 4. *« Of the Civil Wars between 
the houses of Lancaster and York," Lond. 1604, 1609, 
8vo, and 1623, 4to. 5. " The Vision of the Twelve God- 
desses, presented in a Mask," &c. London, 1604, Svo, 
and 1623, 4to. 6. " Panegyric congratulatory," delivered 
to king James at Burleigh Harrington, in Rutlandshire, 
Lond. 1604 and 1623, 4to. 7. " Epistles" to various 
great personages, in verse, Lond. 1601 and 1623, 4to. 8. 
" Musophilus, containing a general Defence of Learning," 
prmted with the former. 9. " Tragedy of " Philotas," 
Lond. 1611, &c. Svo. 10. " Hymen's Triumph ; a pastoral 
tragi-comedy," at the nuptials of lord Roxborough, Lond. 
1623, 4to, 2d edit. 11." Musa," or a Defence of Rhyme, 
Lond. 1611, Svo. 12. The " Epistle of Octavia to M. Anto- 
nius," Lond. 1611, Svo. 1 3. The first part of the " History 
of England," in three books, Lond. 1613, 4to, reaching to 
the end of king Stephen, in prose ; to which he afterwards 
added a second part, reaching to the end of king Edward 
III.. Lond. 1618, 1621, 1623, and 1634, folio, continued to 
the end of king Richard HL by John Trussel, some time a 
Winchester scholar, afterwards a trader and alderman of 
that city. 14. " The Queen's Arcadia," a pastoral tragi- 
comedy, 1605, 1623, Lond. 4to. i5. " Funeral poem 
on the Death of the earl of Devon," Lond. 1623, 4to. In 



DANIEL. 267 

the same year his poetical works were published in 4to, by 
his bioilier John Daniel. 

The editor of PhiUips's Theatrnm (1800) to whom we 
are indebted for the above hst, adds, tiiat " the character 
of Daniel's genius seems to be propriety, rather than ele- 
vation. His language is generally pure and harmonious ; 
and his reflections are just. But his thoughts are too ab- 
stract, and aj)peal rather to tlie understanding than to the 
imagination or the heart; and he wanted the fire necessary 
for the loftier flights of poetry." 

Mr. Headly, who appears to have studied his works with 
much attention, thus appreciates his merit : " Though 
very rarely sublime, he has skill in the pathetic ; and his 
pages are disgraced with neither pedantry nor conceit. 
We find, both in his poetry and prose, such a legitimate 
and rational flow of language as approaches nearer tiie style 
of the 18th than the 16th century, and of which we may 
safely assert, tliat it never will become obsolete. He cer- 
tainly was the Atticus of his day. It seems to have been 
his error to have entertained too great a diffidence of his own 
abilities. Constantly contented with the sedate propriety of 
good sense, which he no sooner attains than he seems to 
rest satisfied, though his resources, had he but made the ef- 
fort, would have carried him much farther. In thus escaping 
censure, he is not always entitled to praise. From not 
endeavouring to be great, he sometimes misses of being re- 
spectable. The constitution of his mind seems often to 
have failed him in the sultry and exhausting regions of the 
muses ; for though generally neat, easy, and perspicuous, 
he too frequently grows slack, languid, and enervated. 
In perusing his long historical poem, we grow sleepy at 
the dead ebb of his narrative, notwithstanding being occa- 
sionally relieved with some touches of the pathetic. Un- 
fortunate in the choice of his subject, he seems fearful of 
supplying its defects by digressional embellishment ; in- 
stead of fixing upon one of a more fanciful cast, which the 
natural coolness of his judgment would necessarily have 
corrected, he has cooped himself up within the limited 
and naiTovv pale of dry events ; instead of casting his eye 
on the general history of human nature, and giving his 
genius a range over her immeasurable fields, he has con- 
fined himself to an abstract diary of fortune; instead of 
presenting us with pictures of truth from the effects of the 
passions, he has versified the truth of action only j he has 



2G8 DANIEL. 

sufficiently, therefore, shown the historian, but by no 
means the poet. For, to use a sentiment of sir William 
Davenant's, ' Truth narrative and past is the idol of his- 
torians, (who worship a dead thing) ; and truth operative, 
and by its effects continually alive, is the mistress of poets, 
who hath not her existence in matter, but in reason.' 
Daniel has often the softness of Rowe without his effemi- 
nacy. In his Complaint of Cleopatra, he has caught 
Ovid's manner very happily, as he has no obscurities 
either of style or language, neither pedantry nor affecta- 
tion, all of which have concurred in banishing from use 
the works of his contemporaries. The oblivion he has met 
with is peculiarly undeserved; he has shared their fate, 
though innocent of their faults." 

The justice of these remarks cannot be disproved, al- 
thouorh some of them are rather too liorurative for sober 
criticism, Daniel's fatal error was in chusing history in- 
stead of fiction ; yet in his lesser pieces, and particularly 
in his sonnets, are many striking poetical beauties ; and 
his language is every where so much more harmonious than 
that of his contemporaries, that he deserves a place in 
every collection of English poetry, as one vvho had the 
taste or genius to anticipate the improvements of a more 
refined age. As a dramatic writer, he has been praised 
for his adherence to the models of antiquit}^, but whoever 
attempts this, attempts what has ever been found repugnant 
to the constitution of the English Theatre.' 

DANKERS. See DANCKERTS. 

DANTE (Alighieri), an illustrious Italian poet, de- 
scended from one of the first families of Florence, of the 
name of Caccia Guida. Alighieri was the surname of the 
maternal line, natives of Ferrara, so called from a golden 
wing which the family bore on their arms. He was born 
in 1265, a little after the return of the Guelfs or pope's 
faction, who had been exiled fiom their native country in 
consequence of the defeat at Monte Aperte. The superi- 
ority of his genius appeared early, and if we may credit 
his biographer Boccaccio, his amorous disposition appeared 
almost as soon. His passion for the lady whom he has ce- 
lebrated in his poem b}'^ the name of Beatrice, is said to 
have commenced at nine years of age- She was the 
daughter of Foleo Portinari, a noble citizen of Florence. 

> Biog. Erit. — Johnson and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810. 



DANTE. 269 

His passion seems to have been of the platonic kind, ac- 
coaUng to the account he gives of it in his " Vita Nuova," 
one of his earhest productions. The lady died at the age 
of twenty-six ; and Dante, affected by the afflicting event, 
fell into a profound melancholy, to cure which his friends 
recommended matrimony. Dante took their advice, but 
was unfortunate in choosing a lady of a termagant temper, 
from whom he found it necessary to separate, but not until 
they had lived miserably for a considerable time, during 
which she bore him several children. Either at this period, 
or after the death of his first mistress, he seems by his own 
account to have fallen into a profligate course of life, from 
which he was rescued by the prayers of his mistress, now 
a saint, who prevailed on the spirit of Virgil to attend hirti 
through the infernal regions. It is not easy to reduce this 
account to matter of fact, nor is it very clear indeed whe- 
ther his reigning vice was profligacy, or ambition of worldly 
honours. It is certain, however, that he possessed this 
ambition, and had reason to repent of it. 

He had already conceived notions of military glor\-, and 
had distinguished himself by his bravery in an action where 
the Florentines obtained a signal victory at Arezzo. This, 
joined with his acknowledged learning, prepared the way 
for his advancement to the first honours of the state. Italy, 
at that time, was distracted between the factions of the 
Guelfs, or partizans of the pope, and the Ghibellines, 
who adhered to the emperor. After many revolutions, the 
Guelfs had got the superiority in Florence; and in 1300 
Dante, with several colleagues, was elected prior, the first 
executive office in the republic of Florence, and from this 
he is said to have dated all his misfortunes. Although the 
faction of the Ghibellines seemed totally extinct, an unin- 
terrupted flow of ten years prosperity was attended with 
consequences more fatal to the Guelfs than all their past 
misfortunes. The two noble families of the Cherchi and 
Donati had been engaged in a quarrel of old standing, 
and now had recourse to arms, in consequence of a dispute 
between two branches of the family of Cancelieri, of Pis- 
toia. The rival factions had distinguished themselves by 
the names of the blacks and the whites, i. e. the Neri and 
the Bianchi. Donati, from an old attachment to the part of 
the Cancelieri, called the blacks, joined their faction, which 
immediately determ-aed the Cherchi to join the whites ; 
and in order to put an end to the quarrel, Dante and his 



270 DANTE. 

colleagues, ordered the heads of the opposite factions td 
remove from Pistoia to Florence, the consequence of which 
was, that all the noble families of Florence ranged them- 
selves with the one or the other, and even the lower order 
of the citizens became partizans. At last, at a secret 
meeting of the blacks, Carso Douati proposed to apply to 
pope Boniface VIII. to terminate these intestine broils, by 
sending Charles of Valois of the blood royal of France. 
The whites, having learned this, assembled in arms, and 
clamoured loudly against the project, and Dante was so 
dissatisfied with it, that from that moment it is probable 
he took a decided part against the black faction. 

To preserve, however, the appearance of impartiality, 
he and his colleagues, gaining the multitude on their side, 
ordered the leaders of both parties, Donati and Cherchi, 
into confinement ; but Dante's real sentiments soon ap- 
peared : the whites were set at liberty, and the blacks re- 
mained in bonds or in exile, and although Dante's priorate 
had expired before the whites were released, the measure 
was attributed to his influence. This appearance of par- 
tiality gave the wished for pretext to Boniface to send 
Charles of Valois to Florence, who, after producing a letter 
pretended to be written by some of the leaders of the 
whites, offering to corrupt his integrity in their favour, 
recalled the«exiles of the black faction, and banished their 
opponents. Dante was at this time at Rome soliciting the 
pope to conciliate the two parties, and finding his solicita- 
tions in vain, returned, and found the sentence of exile 
passed upon him, his possessions confiscated, and his house 
razed to the foundation. This news met him at Siena, 
where he was soon joined by a numerous body of exiles, 
who formed themselves into an army, and after making- 
some unsuccessful efforts to enter their native city by 
force, which they repeated for four years, were obliged to 
disperse. 

Dante first found a patron in the great Cane de la Scala, 
prince of Verona, whom he has celebrated in the first 
canto of the Inferno ; but his high spirit was ill-suited to 
courtly dependance ; and it is very probable he lost the 
favour of the prince by the frankness of his behaviour. Of 
this an instance is given in several autliors. The dispo- 
sition of the poet, in the latter part of his life, had ac- 
quired a strong tincture of melancholy, which made him 
less acceptable in the gay court of Verona, where probably 



D A N T R 271 

a poet was only thouglit a character fit to find frivolous 
amusements for his patron. A common jester, or buffoon 
(a noted })ersonage in those days), eclipsed the character 
of the bard, and neither the variety of his learning, nor 
the sublimity of his genius, stood him in any stead. Cane, 
the prince, perceived that he was hurt by it ; and, instead 
of altering his mode of treatment, very ungenerously ex- 
asperated his resentment, by observing one day in public 
company, that it was very extraordinary, that the jester, 
whom ever one knew to be a worthless fellow, should be 
so much auiiiired by him, and all his court ; while Dante, 
a man unparalleled in learning, genius, and integrity, was 
universally neglected. " You will cease to wonder (says 
Dante), when you consider that similarity of manners is 
the strongest bond of attachment." It does not ajjpear 
whether the prince resented this answer, which he surely 
must have felt ; but it is certain that the prince endea- 
voured to make the poet an occasional object of merriment 
in some very low instances, and Dante condescended to 
meet him even in that humble species of wit. Dante, 
however, soon found it necessary to seek his fortune else- 
where, and from Verona he retired to France, according 
to Manetti ; and Boccaccio affirms that he disputed in the 
theological schools of Paris with great reputation, which 
Boccaccio had a much better o])|)ortU!iity of knowing than 
Bayle, who takes upon him to question the fact. 

Dante's first prospect of better fortune opened in 1308, 
when Henry, count of Luxemburgh was raised to the em- 
pire. In hopes of being restored to his native country, he 
attached himself to the interests of the new emperor, in 
whose service he is sup]:)osed to have written his Latin 
work " De Monarchia," in which he asserts the rights of 
the empire against the encroachments of the papacy. In 
1311, he instigated the emperor to lay siege to Florence, 
in which enterprize, says one of his biographers, ho did 
not chuse to appear in person, from motives of respect to 
his native country. But the emperor was repulsed by the 
Florentines; and his death, which happened next year, 
deprived Dante of all hopes of re-establishment in his na- 
tive country. After this disappointment he is supposed to 
have spent several years in roving about Italy, in a state of 
poverty and dependance ; till he found an honourable 
establishment at Ravenna, by the friendship of Guido No- 
vello de Polenta, lord of that place, who received this 



272 DANTE. 

illustrious exile with the most endearing liberality, con- 
tinued to protect him during the few remaining years of 
his life, and extended his munificence even to the ashes of 
the poet. 

Eloquence was one of the many talents which Dante 
possessed in an eminent degree ; on this account he is said 
to have been employed in fourteen different embassies 
during the course of his life, and to have succeeded in 
most of them. His patron Guido had occasion to try his 
abilities in a service of this nature, and dispatched him as 
his ambassador, to negociate a peace with the Venetians, 
who were preparing for hostilities against Ravenna. Ma- 
netti asserts that he was unable to procure a public 
audience at Venice, and returned to Ravenna by land, 
from his apprehension of the Venetian fleet. But the fa- 
tigue of his journey, and the mortincaiion of having failed 
in his attempt to preserve his generous patron from the 
impending danger, threw him into a fever, which terminated 
in death. He died Sept. 14, 1321, in the palace of Guido, 
who paid the most tender regard to his memory. This 
magnificent patron, says Boccaccio, commanded the body 
to be adorned with poetical ornaments; and after being 
carried on a bier through the principal streets of Ravenna, 
by the most illustrious citizens, to be deposited in a mar- 
ble coffin. He pronounced himself the funeral oration, 
and expressed his design of erecting a most splendid mo- 
nument, in honour of the deceased ; a design, which his 
subsequent misfortunes rendered him unable to accomplish. 
At his request, however, many epitaphs were written on 
the poet. The best of them, says Boccaccio, was by 
Giovanni di Viro-ilio, of Boloo;na, a famous author of the 
time, and the intimate friend of Dante. Bernardo Bembo, 
the father of the celebrated cardinal, raised a handsome 
monument over the neglected ashes of the poet, with a 
Latin inscription ; but before this, the Florentines had 
vainly endeavoured to gain the bones of their great poet 
from the city of Ravenna. In the age of Leo X. they made 
a second attempt, by a solemn application to the pope for 
that purpose ; and Michael Angelo, an enthusiastic ad- 
mirer of Dante, very liberally ottered to execute a magni- 
ficent monument to the poet, but the hopes of the Floren- 
tines were again unsuccessful. 

Dante is described by Boccaccio, as a man of middle 
stature i his demeanour was solemn, and his walk slow; 



DANTE. 273 

his dress suitable to his age and rank ; his visage lono-, his 
nose aquiline, his eyes tull, his cheek-bones lar"e, and 
tipper lip a little projecting over the under one; his com- 
plexion was olive, his hair and beard thick and curled. This 
gave him that singularity of aspect, which made his ene- 
mies observe, that he looked like one who had visited the 
infernal regions. His deportment, both in public and pri- 
vate life, was regular and exemplary, and his moderation 
in eatini; and drinking remarkable. 

His fanie rests on his " Divina Commedia," unquestion- 
ably a great and singular, but very unequal work. At 
vvhat time, or in what place, he wrote it, his numerous 
commentators seem unable to determine. The life of 
Dante, in which we have principally follov/ed Mr. Boyd, 
in the preliminary matter to his excellent translation, is 
after all not the life of a poet, nor does it furnish the in- 
formation we naturally look for in order to enable us to 
trace the progress of genius. Boccaccio asserts, that he 
began the " Commedia" in his thirtj'-eiglith year, and. 
had finished seven cantos of his *' Inferno" before his 
exile, and that in the plunder of his house, on that event, 
the beginning of his poem was fortunately preserved, but 
remained for some time neglected, till, its merit being ac- 
cidentally discovered by an intelligent poet, Dino, it was 
sent to the marquis Marcello Marespina, an Italian noble- 
man, by whom Dante was then protected. The marquis 
restored these lost papers to the poet, and intreated him 
to proceed in the work, which opened in so promising a 
manner. To this accident we are probably intlel)ted for 
the poem of Dante, which he must have continued under 
all the disadvantages of an unfortunate and agitated life. 
It does not appear at vvhat time he completed it : perhaps 
before he quitted Verona, as he dedicated the " Paradcso'* 
to his Veronese patron. The critics are not agreed why 
he called this poem " Commedia." 

The very high estimation in which this work was held ia 
Florence appears from a very singular institution. The 
republic of Florence, in 1373, assigned a public stipend 
to a person appointed to read lectures on the poem of 
Dante. Boccaccio was the first person engaged in this 
office; but his death happening two years after his ap- 
pointment, his comment extended only to the first seven- 
teen cantos of the " Inferno." Another very terrible in- 
stance of their veneration for their native bard is tuld by 

Vol. XL T 



274 DANTE. 

tbe author of the " Memoires de Petrarque." Ceno de 
Ascoli, a celebrated physician and astrologer, had the 
boldness to write parodies on the poem of Dante. This 
drew on him the animadversion of the inquisition. Charles, 
duke of Calabria, thought to protect him, but in vain. 
The bishop of Aversa, his chancellor, declared it was 
highly impious to entertain a sorcerer as a physician, and 
Ascoli was accordingly burnt at Florence, about three 
years after the death of the poet whom he had maligned. 

The " Commedia" of Dante is a species of satiric epic, 
in which the reader is conducted through the three stages, 
*' the Inferno," the " Purgatorio," and " Paradise," the 
whole consisting of a monstrous assemblage of characters, 
pagan heroes and philosophers, Christian fathers, kings, 
popes, monks, ladies, apostles, saints, and hierarchies ; yet 
frequently embellished with passages of great sublimity and 
pathos (of the latter, what is comparable to the tale of 
Ugolino ?) and imagery and sentiments truly Homeric. 
The highest praise, however, must be given to his " In- 
ferno," a subject which seems to have suited the gloomy 
wildness of his imagination, which appears tamed and 
softened even in the most interesting pictures in the 
*' Purgatorio" and " Paradiso." Whether, says an excel- 
lent living critic, Dante was stimulated to his singular 
work by the success of his immediate predecessors, the 
Provencal poets, or by the example of the ancient Roman 
authors, has been doubted. The latter opinion, Mr. Ros- 
coe thinks the more probable. In his " Inferno" he had 
apparently the descent of iEneas in view, but in the rest 
of his poem there is little resemblance to any antecedent 
production. Compared with the ^Eiieid, adds Mr. Ros- 
coe, " it is a piece of grand Gothic architecture at the side 
of a beautiful Roman temple," on which an anonymous 
writer remarks that this Gothic grandeur miserably de^^ene- 
rates in the adjoining edifices, the " Purgatorio" and 
*« ]»aradiso." 

'^i'he editions of Dante's *' Commedia" have been very 
numerous. The best is said to be that of Venice, 1757, 
3 vols. 4to. It was first printed in 1472, probably at Fo- 
ligno, in a folio volume, without place. This is of great ra- 
rity and value. The second is in folio of the same date, and 
tiie third also of the same date in 4to. The three are ac- 
curately described by Mr. Dibdin in his valuable tract, 
*' Book Riiriiies." Dunte is the author of some sonnets 



DANTE. 2)5 

which are not unworthy of him. A considerable number 
of them are in his *' Vita Nuova." In the few Latin works 
he wrote, his progress in that language is evident, but all 
were soon so eclipsed by his " Commedia," that, except 
as matters of curiosity, they have seldom been perused.' 

Dante (Ignatius), according to some, a descendant 
of the famous poet, was born at Perugia in 15:37, and look 
the hdbit of a Dominican. He became skilful in philoso- 
phy and divinity, but more so in the mathematics. He 
was invited to Florence by the great duke Cosmo I. and 
explained to him the sphere and the books of Ptolemv, 
and left here a marble quadrant, and an equinoctial aiid 
meridian line on the front of the church of St. Maria No- 
vella. He read public lectures on the same subject, and 
had many auditors in the university of Bologna, where he 
was appointed mathematical professor. Before he returned 
to Perugia, he made a fine map of that city, and of it'i 
whole territory, and in 1376 traced the grand meridian in 
the church of St. Petrona, which Cassini completed. The 
reputation of his learning caused him to be invited to Rome 
by Gregory XIII. who employed him in makintr seoo-ra- 

1 ■ I II ^ -> coo 

pineal maps and plans. He acquitted himself so well in 
this, that the pope thought himself obliged to prefer him ; 
and accordingly gave him the bishopric of Alatri, near 
Rome. He went and resided in his diocese ; but Sixtus V. 
who succeeded Gregory XIII. would have him near his 
person, and ordered him to return to Home. Dante was 
preparing for the journey, but was prevented by death, in 
1586. His principal works are, " A Treatise of the Con- 
struction and Use of the Astrolabe," " Mathematical Ta« 
bles," and a " Commentary on the Laws of Perspective."" 
DANTE (John Baptist), of the san)e family, proba- 
bly, with the preceding, and native also of Perugia, was 
an excellent mathematician, and is memorable for having 
fitted a pair of wings so exactly to his body, as to be able 
to fl}' with them. He made the experiment several times 
over the lake Trasimenus; and succeeded so well, that he 
had the courage to perform before the whole city of Peru- 
gia, during the solemnity of the niarriage of Bartholomew 

' Life prefixed to Mr. Boyd's Translation of the Commedia, 1802, 3 vols. Svo. 
Of this work it may be justly said that few translators have ever entered more 
into the spirit of their author, or transfused it with more succe.ss — Gmguene 
Hist. Lit. d'ltalie, vol, I, 43T, a very elaborate article. — Tiraboschi. — R.jscott * 
Lorenzo, &,c. &c, 2 Moreri— Gen. Diet.— Tiraboschi, 

T 2 



^76 DAN T E. 

d'Alviano with the sister of Joljn Paul Baolioni. He shot 
himself from the highest part of the city, and directed his 
flight over the square, to the admiration of the spectators: 
but unfortunately the iron, with which he managed one of 
his wings, failed ; and then, not being able to balance the 
weight of his body, he fell on a church, and broke his 
thigh. Bayle fancies, that the history of this Daedalus, for 
so he was called, will not generally be credited ; yet he 
observes, that it is said to have been practised at other 
places, for which he refers us to the *' Journal des S^a- 
vans" of 1678. Dante was afterwards invited to be pro- 
fessor of the mathematics at Venice. He flourished to- 
wards the end of the fifteenth century, and died before he 
was forty years old. ^ 

DANTE (Pete II Vincent), a native of Perugia, of the 
family of Rainaldi, imitated so well the verses of the poet 
Dante, that he was generally called by his name. He was 
not less distinguished by the delicacy of his poetry, than 
by his skill in the mathematics and in architecture. He 
died in 1512, in an advanced age, after having invented 
several machines, and composed a commentary on the 
sphere of Sacrobosco. His grandson Vincent Dante, an 
able mathematician, like him, v/as at the same time pain- 
ter and sculptor. His statue of Julius HI. has been gene- 
rally looked upon as a master-piece of the art. Philip II. 
king of Spain, offered him a large salary to induce him to 
come and finish the paintings of the Escurial ; but the de- 
licacy of Dante's constitution would not permit him to quit 
jjis natal air. He died at Perugia in 1576, at the age of 
forty-six. There is extant by him, " The lives of those 
who have excelled in drav/ings for statues.'" 

D'ANTINE (Francis), a Benedictine of the congrega- 
tion of St. IMaur,. was born at Gouvieux in the diocese of 
Liege, in 1688, and made himself highly respected among 
ids brethren by his piety and charitable attention to the 
poor and afflicted. To the learned world he is known as 
the editor of the first five volumes of the new edition of 
Du Cange's Glossar\-, in 1736, which he very much im- 
proved and enlarged. He was also one of the editors of 
the great collection of French historians begun by Bou- 
quet, and of the " Art de verifier les dates," of which a 

1 Gen. Diet. — Moreri. 
•'3 Oen. Diet. — Moieri. — In both whom there is some tliflPerence as to the rels- 
♦iunship wf the«e Danlcs, but Ihcy appear tg J^ave been of tie eauie family. 



D'A N T r N E. 



•Zl I 



new edition was published by Clement in 1770, folio. 
D' Amine translated the Psalms from the Hebrew, Paris, 
J 739 and 17^0. He died in 1 746. ' 

DANTZ, or DANS (John Andrew), a learned Ger- 
man divine of the Lutheran chnrcb, and whose talents 
contributed greatly to raise the reputation of the university 
of Jena, was born Feb. 1, 1654, at 'Sandhusen, a village 
near Gotha. He appears to have obtained the [)atronage 
of the duke Frederick, who defrayed the expence of his 
education, both at school, and at the university of Wit- 
tenjberg, where he took his mastei"'s degree in 1676. 
Having devoted much of his attention to the Hebrew lan- 
guage and antiquities, he went to Hamburgh, where he 
proHted by ilie assistance of Esdras Edzardi and other 
learned Jews, and was enabled to read the rabbinical wri- 
tings with ficihty. From Hamburgh he went to Leipsic, 
and thence to Jena, from wiiich in l6S;i he visited Hol- 
land and England, acquiring in both countries the ac- 
quaintance of men of learning. On his return, having de- 
termined to settle at Jena, he was appointed professor ex- 
traordinary of the oriental languages, and on the death of 
the learned Frischmuth, was advanced to be professor- 
ordinary. In these offices he acquired great reputation, 
and attracted a number of forei'j;n students. Some time 
a/ter, he was appointed professor of divinity, in which he 
was no less popular. He died of a stroke of apoplexy, 
Dec. 20, 1727. He wrote, among many other works, 
*' Sinceritas sacrae ScripturiB veteris testamenti triumphans, 
cujus prodromus Sinceritas Scripturaj Vet. Test, prevalente 
Keri vacillans," Jena, 1713, 'ko; and various dissertatioiiij 
in Latin, in controversy with the Jews, or on topics of 
Jewish antiquities, particularly " Divina Elohim inter 
coaequales de priino homi.ie condcndo deliberatio," 1712 ; 
*' Inauguratio Christi hand obscurior Mosaica, decern dis- 
sert, asserta," Jena, 1717, 4to; and a very ingenious tract 
entitled " Davidis in Ammonitas devictos miligata crude- 
litas," WIS.'' 

DANVEllS (Henry), a brave warrior in the end of the 
sixteenth and beginning of the soventeeiuh ceatury, and 
created earl of Danby by king Charles 1. was tiie se( ond 
son of sir John Danvers, knigl't, by Elizabeth his wilCj 

* Diet. Hist. — and Moreri in An tine. 

9 Moreri. — Uibl. Gemiariciue, vol. XVII."— Memoirs of Literature, vel. II, 



278 D A N V E R S. 

dauditer and coheir to John Nevil the last lord Latimer. 
He was born at Dantesey in Wiltshire, on the 28th of June, 
1577;. After an education suitable to his birth, he went 
and served in the Low Country wars, under Maurice count 
of Nassau, afterwards prince of Orange ; and was engaged 
in many military actions of those times, both by sea and 
land. He was made a captain in the wars of France, oc- 
casioned in that kmgdom by the League ; and there 
knio-hted for his good service under Henry IV. king of 
France. He was next employed in L-eland, as lieutenant- 
general of the horse, and serjeant-major of the whole army, 
under Robert earl of Essex, and Charles Daron of Mont- 
ioy, in tue reign of queen Elizabeth. Upon the accession 
of king James L he was, on account of his family's des, rts 
and sufferings, advanced, July 21, 1603, to the dignity of a 
peer of this realm, by the title of Baron of Dantesey : and 
in 1 603, by a special act of parliament, restored in blood 
as heir to his father, notwithstanding the attainder of his 
elder brother, sir Charles Danvers, knight. He was also 
appointed lord president of Monster in Ireland ; and in 
1620 made governor of the Isle of Guernsey for life. By- 
king Charles I. he was created earl of Danby, February 5, 
1625 6 ; and made of his privy council; and knight of 
the order of the garter. Being himself a man of learning, 
as well as a great enconrager of it, and observing that op- 
pottunitics were wanting in the university of Oxford for 
the useful study of botany, he purchased for the sum of 
two hundred and fifty pounds, five acres of ground, oppo- 
site Magdalen college, which had formerly served for a 
buryiiig-place to the Jews (residing in great numbers at 
Oxford, till they were expelled England by king Edward I. 
in 1290), and conveyed his right and title to that piece of 
land to the university, on the 27th of March, 1622. The 
ground being first considerably raised, to prevent its being 
ovorfiowed by the river Cherwell, the heads of the uni- 
versity laid the first stones of the walls, on the 25th of 
July following. They were finished in 1633, being four- 
teen feet high : and cost the noble benefactor about five 
thousand pounds. The entrance into the garden is on the 
north side under a stately gate, the charge of building 
which amomucd to between five and fix hundred jiounds. 
Upon the front of that gateway, is this Latin inscription ; 
Gloriac D-i Opt. Max. Honori Caroli Regis, in usum Acad. 
1?t Kfipub. Henricus Comes Danby, D.D. MDCXXXU" 



D A N V E R S. 275 

For the maintenance of it, and of a gardener, the noble 
founder left, by will, the impropriate rectory of Kirkdale 
in Yorkshire : which was afterwards settled for the suine 
purpose, by his brother and heir sir John Danvers, knt. 
The earl of Danby's will bore date the 14th of December, 
1640. 

He founded also an alms-house, and a free-school, at 
Malmesbury in Wiltshire. In his latter days he chose a 
retired life ; and (npon what account is not well known) 
fell under the displeasure of the court*. At length, he 
died at his house in Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire, Jan. 
20, 1643-4, in the seventy-first year of his age: and was 
buried in the chancel of the parish-church of Dantesey, 
under a noble monument of white marble, with an epi- 
taph which contains a high character of him. He was never 
married, 

His younger brother and heir was sir John Danvers, knt. 
one of the gentlemen of the privy-chamber to Charles I. 
who was so ungrateful and inhuman, as to sit in judgment 
upon his gracious master, that unfortunate prince, and to 
be one of those who signed the warrant for his execution. 
He died before the restoration of king Charles II. but, how- 
ever, all his estates both real and personal were confis- 
cated in 1661.' 

DAPPERS (Oliver or Olfert), a physician at Amster- 
dam, who died in 1690, gained some reputation in the 
seventeenth century, by the descriptions he published 
from 1668 to 1680, in Dutch, of Malabar, Coromandel, 
Africa, Asia, Syria, Palestine, and America, in as many 
folio volumes. These were the fruits of very accurate and 
laborious compilation, for he had never seen one of those 
countries. The description of Africa, and that of the 
Archipelago, were translated into French.' 

DARAN (James), a b>ench military surgeon, who ac- 
quired much celebrity for his skill in treating disorders in 
the urethra, particularly for his improved method of 
making bougies, was born at St. Fra.jon in Gascony March 
6, 1701, and after studying the art, became surgeon-major 

* He was fined five thousand pounds would not have been inflicted upon 

in the star-chamber, for liaving felled him, had he beeu in the goodgiacea 

timber in Wichwood-forest,- without of the court, 
licence ; a severe puuislimenl, which 

' Riog. Rrii.— Fuller's Worthies, and Lloyd's Stale Wovthits^ 
9 AJoreri, — Diet. Uist, 



280 D A R A N. 

of the imperial troops, and afterwards practised at Milan, 
and at Turin, where the king Victor Amadeus promised 
him great encoura-iement if lie would remain ; but at that 
time he wished to travel for improvement, and after visit- 
ing Rome and Viemia, continued some time at Messina, 
where he exerted his skill and humanity with great success. 
Having devoted much of his attentiim to the disorders of 
the bladder, he pubhshed in 1745, "Recueil d'Ohserva- 
tions Chirurgicales sur les Maladies de 1' Urethra," which 
has been several times reprinted, and in 1750, v\as trans- 
lated into English by Mr. Tomkyns, an eminent surgeon 
of London, who was able, he says, from his own experience, 
to attest the superior uiility of Daran's bougies ovei those 
that had been commonly used. In the fifth volume of the 
*' Journv-aux de Medicine," there is a communication by 
Daran, in which he makes mention of a tube he had in- 
vented for drawing off the urine. This he describes more 
particularly in his "Treatise on the Gonorrhoea Virulenia,'* 
first published in 1756. It is a flexible catheter, formed 
of a spiral wire, covered with the same composition as that 
used in making tiie bougies, and was capable of being in- 
troduced into tlie bladder, in many cases, where it would 
have been dangerous, oiten impossible, to use the com- 
mon catheter. Considerable improvements have been since 
made of this instrument, but the merit of the invention 
still remains with Daran. The fame he acijnired, during 
his residence at Paris, brought a nu. her of strangers to 
visit him, and the profits of his practice were very great ; 
but his charity to the indigent, and an easiness of temper, 
which led him into speculations, reduced him at last to 
very low circumstances, and he was comparatively poor 
when he died, in 1784. It is much to his honour that 
when thus reduced, and when the infirmities of age were 
approaching, lie divulged, in 1779, the secret of the com- 
position of his bougies in a work entitled " Composition 
du -emede de Daran, ike." 12mo, when he could derive 
no i)enefit except from rlie sale of his book. His other 
pnbli'ations were, 1. " lle;)onse a la Brochure de Bayet 
sur la defense ct la conservation des parties les plus essen- 
tielles de rhomme," 1750, l2moi and 2. *' LeLtre sur un 
article des Tunieurs."' 
DAllCI. fc'ee DARCY. 

* Pict. Hist. — Rees's CyclopcBdla. 



D' A R C O N. 281 

D'ARCON (John Claudius Elf.onore Limiceaud), aa 
cmiuenc Frencii engineer, and nic'iuorablc in history as 
tlie cuitiriver uf a mode of besieging Gibraltar whiclj proved 
so t'aial to Ills country. iien, was bor.i at Poiitarlier in 173;i. 
H:s father, an advocate, intended to bring him uj) to the 
church, and had provided him witn a benefice, but Dar- 
5on from his infancy had a turn for tiie military life; and 
when at scliool, instead of learnin|T Latin, was copying 
drawings and sketches of fortiticaiioiis. On one occasion 
he took a singular mode of acquainting his parents vvitli 
the error they had committetl, in seeking a profession for 
him. Having by their desire sat for his portrait, he sub- 
stituted, with his own hand, the uniform of an engineer, 
instead of the dress of an abbe, in which the artist had 
clotlied him. His father, struck with this silent hint, no 
longer opposed his inclinations. In 175 4- he was admitted 
into the school of Meziere-!, and the following year was 
received as an ordinary engineer. He served afterwards 
vvitii distinguislieJ honour in the seven years' war, and par- 
ticularly in 176 1, at thy defence of Cassel. He afterwards 
devoted hims-lf to impv*)vements in the military art, and 
even in the making of drawings and charts; and having 
great ambition, with a warmth of imagination that pre- 
sented every thing as practicable, he at length in 1780 
conceived the memorable plan of the siege of Gibraltar. 
This, say his countrymen, which has made so much noise 
in Kurope, has not been fairly estimated, because every 
one has judged from the event. Without entering, how- 
ever, in this place, on its merits, all our historians have at- 
tributed to Dar^on's ideas a grandeur and even sublimity 
of conception which did him mucii honour, and it is yet 
remembered that almost all Kurope was so perfectly con- 
vinc (l of the success of the plan as to admit of no doubt 
or o )|ection. Nothing of the kind, however, was ever 
attended with a disconiliiure more complete, and D'Ar9on 
wrote and printed a species of justification, which at least 
shows the bitterness of his disappointment. On the com- 
mencement of the revolutionary war, he engaged on the 
popular side ; but, except some concern he had in the 
invasion of Holland, does not appear to have greatly dis- 
tinguished himself. He was twice denounced by fluctuating 
governments ; anti being treated in the same manner after 
his Dutch campaign, he retired from the siTvice, and 
wrote his last woxk on fortifications. In 17'-»i« the first 



282 D*A R C O N. 

consul introduced him into the senate, but he did not en- 
joy this lionoiir lontr, as he dud July 1, 1800. He was at 
that time a inL^mber of the Institute. His works, still in 
high estimation in France, are: 1. " Reflexions d'un in- 
genieur, en repoiise a. un tacticien," Amst. 17 73, 12mo. 
2. '' Correspondance sur I'art de la Guerre entre un colo- 
nel de dragons et un capitaine d'infanterie," Bouillon, 
1774, 8vo. 3. " Defense d'une systeme de Guerre Na- 
tionule, ou analyse raisonn6 d'un ouvvage, intitule ' Re- 
futation complete du systeme,' &c." This is a defence of 
3V1. JVlenil Durand's system, which had been attacked by 
Guibert ; and the preceding pamphlet has a respect to the 
same dispute concerning vvliat the French call the ordre 
projond and the ordre mince. 4. *' Conseil de Guerre privc, 
sur I'evenement de Gibraltar en 1782," 1785, Svo. 5. 
*' Memoires pour servir a I'histoire du siege de Gibraltar, 
par I'auteur des batteries flottantes," 1783, 8vo. 6. " Con- 
siderations sur Tinfluence du genie de Vauban dans la ba- 
lance des forces de I'etat," 17 86, Svo. 7. " Examen de- 
taille de I'importante question de Tulilite des places fortes 
et retranchments," Strasburgh, 1789, Svo. 8. " De la 
force militaire consideree dans ses rapports conservateurs,'* 
Strasburgh, 1789, Svo, with a continuation, 1790.. 9. 
*' Reponse aux Memoires de M. de Montalembert, sur la 
fortification dite perpendiculaire," 1790, Svo. 10. " Con- 
siderations militaires et politiques sur les Fortifications," 
Paris, 1795, Svo. This, which is the most important of all 
bis works, and was printed at the expcnce of the govern- 
ment, contains the essence of all his other productions, and 
the result of his experience on an art which he had studied 
during the whole of his life. ' 

DARCy (Patrick, Count), of a noble and ancient fa* 
mily in Ireland, was born in Galloway Sept. 18, 1725. His 
parents, who were attached to the exiled house of Stuart, 
'Sent him to Paris in 1739, where, being put under the 
care of M. Clairault, at seventeen years of age he gave a 
new solution of the problem of the curve of equal pressure 
>n a resisting medium. This was followed the year after 
by a determination of the curve described by a heavy body, 
sliding by its o.vn weight along a moveable plane, at the 
same time that the pressure of the body causes an horizon* 
tal motion in the plane. This problem had indeed beeft 

J Biog. Uaiverselle in art. Arcon, 



D A R C Y. 283 

solved by John Bernoulli and Clairault; but, besides that 
chevalier Darcy's method was peculiar to him, we discover 
throughout the work traces of that originality which is the 
leading character of all his productions. The commence- 
ment of the war took him off in some measure from his 
studies, and he served during several campaigns in Ger- 
many and Flanders, as captain of the regiment of Conde. 
In 1746 he was appointed to accompany the troops that 
were to be sent to Scotland to assist the pretender ; but the 
vessel in which he sailed was taken by the English, and 
Darcy, whose life was forfeited by the laws of his countrv, 
as being taken in arms against her, was saved by the hu- 
manity of the English commander. During the course of 
this war, amidst all its bustle and dangers, he found lei- 
sure to contribute two memoirs to the academy. The first 
contained a general principle of mechanics, that of the 
preservation of the rotatory motion. Daniel Bernoulli and 
Euler had found it out in 1745 ; but, besides that it is not 
likely their works should have reached Mr. Darcy in the 
midst of his campaigns, his method, which is different from 
theirs, is equally original, simple, elegant, and ingenious. 
This principle, which he again brought forward in 1750, 
by the name of " the principle of the preservation of ac- 
tion," in order to oppose it to Maupertuis's principle of the 
least action, Darcy made use of in solving the problem of 
the precession of the equinoxes : here, however, he mis- 
carried ; and in general it is to be observed, that though 
all principles of this kind may be used as mathematical for- 
mula?, two of them at least must necessarily be employed 
in the investigation of problems, and even these with great 
caution ; so that the luminous and simple principle given 
by M. d'Alembert in 1742 is the only one, on account of 
its being direct, which can be sufficient of itself for the so- 
tion of problems. 

Having published an '' Essay on Artillery" in 1760, 
containing various curious experiments on the charges of 
powder, Ike. and several improvements on Robins (who 
was not so great a mathematician as he), Darcy continued 
the experiments to the last moment of his life, but has left 
nothing behind him. In 1765 he pulilished his " Memoir 
on the duration of the sensation of 8iL;ht," the most inge- 
nious of his works, and that which shews him in the best 
light as an accurate and ingenious uiaker of experiments : 
^)je result of these researches wasj that a body may souiq-« 



284 D A R C Y. 

times pass by our eyes without being seen, or marking its 
presence, otherwise than by weakening the brightness of 
the object it covers ; thus, in turning pieces of card painted 
blue and yellow, you only perceive a continued circle of 
green ; thus the seven prismatic colours, rapidly turned, 
produce an obscure white, which is the obscurer as the 
motion is more rapid. As this duration of the sensation 
increases with the brightness of the object, it would have 
been interesting to know the laws, according to which the 
auo-mentation of the duration follows the intensity of the 
light, and, contrarywise, what are the gradations of the 
intensity of the light of an object which motion makes con- 
tinually visible ; but Darcy, now obliged to trust to other 
eyes than his own, was forced to relinquish this pursuit. 
Darcy, always eaiployed in comparing mathematical theory 
and observation, made a particular use of this principle in 
his "Memoir on Hydraulic Machines," printed in 1754. 
In this he shews how easy it is to make mistakes in looking 
by experiment for the laws of such effects as are sus- 
ceptible of a maximum or viiniimtm ; and indicates at the 
same time, how a system of experiments may be formed, 
which shall lead to the discovery of these laws. All Dar- 
cy's works bear the character which results from the union 
of genius and philosophy ; but as he measured every thing 
upon the largest scale, and required infinite accuracy in 
experiment, neither his time, fortune, nor avocations al- 
lowed him to execute more than a very small part of what 
he projected. He was amiable, spirited, lively, and a lover 
of independence; a passion to which he sacrificed even in 
the midst of literary society, where perhaps a little aristo- 
cracy may not be quite so dangerous. 

Darcy, though estranged from it by circumstances, loved 
and respected his old country: the friend and protector 
of every Irishman who came to Paris, he could not help 
feeling a secret pride, even in the successes of that enemy, 
against whom he was so often and so honourably to himself 
employed. Of his personal histor}-, it yet remains to be 
added, that in the seven years' war he served in the regi- 
ment of Fitz-.Iames; and in 1770 was appointed mareschal 
de-camp, and the same year the academy of sciences ad- 
mitted him to the rank of pensionary. In 1777 he married 
a niece who was brought up under his care at Paris, and 
then took the name of Count Darcy. He died two years 
alter this marriage, Oct. 18, 177^- Condorcet wrote his 



D A R C Y. 28 



o 



eloge, published in the History of the Academy, and seems 
througliout anxious to do justice to iiis talents and charac- 
ter, a circumstance, which, we are told, was very highly 
honourable to Condorcet, as he had been most unjustly 
the continual object of Durcy's aversion and hatred. Dar- 
cy's essays, printed in the Memoirs of the Academy of 
Sciences, are various and very ingenious, and are con- 
tained in the volumes for the years 1742, 1747, 1749, 1750, 
1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1765, and in 
torn. I. of the " Savans Etrangers." ' 

DARES PHIIYGIUS, a Trojan priest, celebrated by 
Homer, is said to have written a history of the Trojan war, 
which ^han speaks of as extant in his time, but it is now 
lost, and that which goes under his name is supposed to 
have been the work of Septimus Romanus, who flourished 
about the year 370. There are editions of it of the dates 
1472, 1541, and one at London, 1675, but it has most 
generally been printed with Dictys Cretensis, another au- 
tlior of doubtful authenticy. ^ 

D'ARGONNE. See ARGONNE. 

D'ARQUIER (AuGUSTiNc), a French astronomer, fel- 
low of the royal society of Totdouse, correspondent mem- 
ber of the royal academy of Paris, and a member of the 
Institute, was born at Toulouse, Nov. 23, 1718, and hav- 
ing early cultivated the science of astronomy, and the 
sciences connected with it, devoted his long life to the 
same pursuits, and acquired great reputation among his 
countrymen. Such was his enthusiasm, that, without any 
assistance from government, he purchased the most va- 
luable instruments, erected an observatory on his honse, 
taught scholars, and defrayed the expence of calculations, 
&c. He died in his native city, Jan. IS, 1802. He pub- 
lished, 1. *' Observations Astronomiques faites a. Toulouse, 
&c." Paris, 1778, 4to, the most complete collection of 
observations that had ever been furnished from a provin- 
cial city. There are six hundred of the moon, thirty- 
three oppositions, several observations of Mercury, of the 
spots in the sun, the satellites of Jupiter, and the eclipses 
of the stars. One of the most surprizing circumstances iu 
this collection is the great number of the passages of Mer- 
cury that have been observed by M. D'Arquier, uotwith* 

* E'oge by Condorcet, — i5iog, Universelle, — and Diet, Hist. In Arty. 
' Saxii Onooiast. 



286 D' A II Q U I E R. 

standing the pretended difficulties which have discouraged 
modern astronomers from observing that planet. 2. " Ob- 
servations Astrononiiques," 1783, 2 vols. 4to, containing 
a series of the usual astronomical observations, from 1748 
to 1781 : some useful instructions on the management of 
the pendulum: and observations on the motion and mag- 
nitude of the Georgium sidus. 3. " Lettres sur I'astro- 
nome pratique," 1786, 8vo. Besides these he published 
some translations, as Sirason's Geometry, Lambert's Cos- 
mological Letters, and Uiloa's Observation on the eclipse 
of the sun m 1778. D'Arquier died Jan. 18, 1802, in 
Toulouse, * 

DARTIS (John), a learned lawyer, was born 1572, at 
Cahors, and after studying there, at Khodez, and Tou- 
louse, went to Paris with the president de Verdun, and 
succeeded Nicholas Oudin as professor of law, 1618. He 
was afterwards professor of common law at the royal col- 
lege, and died April 2, 1651. It appears from his works, 
which were published at Paris, 1656, fol. that he was well 
acquainted with the ancient church discij)line, and a very 
useful compiler, if not a profound scholar. He published 
some separate tracts besides those included in the above 
volume, which are enumerated in our authorities. '^ 

DARWIN (Erasmus), a physician and poet, was a na- 
tive of Elton, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, where he 
was born December 12, 1731. After going through the 
usual school education, under the Rev. Mr. Burrows, at 
the grammar-school at Chesterfield, with credit, he was 
sent to ist. John's college, at Cambridge. There he only 
continued until he took liis baclielor's degree in medicine, 
when he went to Edinburgh to complete his studies ; which 
being finished, and having taken the degree of doctor in 
medicine, a profession to which he was always attached, he 
went to Lichfield, and there commenced his career of prac- 
tice. Being sent for, soon after his arrival, to Mr. Inglis, 
a gentleman of considerable fortune in the neighbourhood, 
who was ill with fever, and in so dangerous a state that 
the attending physician had given up the case as hopeless, 
the doctor had the good fortune to restore him to health. 
This gave him so high a degree of reputation at Litchfield, 
and in the neighbouring towns and villages, that his coin- 

' Diet. Hist.— Month. Rev. vols. LIX and LXX. 
Moreri.— Njcerou, vul, XXX,— X)ui)iu, 



DARWIN. 587 

petitor, who was before in considerable practice, finding 
himself neglected, and nearly deserted, left the place. 
Dr. Darwin soon after married miss Howard, the daughter 
of a respectable inhabitant of Lichtield, by which he 
strengthened his interest in the place. By this lady he 
had three sons, who lived to the age of manhood ; two of 
them lie survived; the third, Dr. Robert Waring Darwin, 
is no;v in considerable practice as a physician at Shrews- 
bury. In 1781, our author, having married a second wife, 
removed to Derby, where he continued to reside to the 
time of his death, which happened on Sunday the 18th of 
April, 1802, in the seventieth year of his age. Six chil- 
tlren by Ids second lady, with their mother, remain to la- 
ment the loss of him. 

The doctor was of an athletic make, much pitted with 
the smalUpox. He stammered much in his speech. He 
had enjoyed an almost uninterrupted good slate of healtb 
Until towards the conclusion of his life, which he attributed, 
and reasonably, to his temperate mode of living, particu- 
larly to his moderation in the use of fermented liquors. 
1'his practice he recommended strenuously to all who con- 
sulted him. Miss Seward, from whose Memoirs of the 
Life of Dr. Darwin these notices are principally taken, 
gives him the credit of having introduced habits of sobriety 
among the trading part of Lichfield, where it had been 
the custom to live more freely before he went to reside 
there. His frequent journies into the country on profes- 
sional business, contributed also in no small degree to the 
preservation of his health and his faculties, which latter 
remained unimpaired to the day of his death. His death 
w^as sudden, occasioned by a fit of what he was used to call 
angina-pectoris, which he had several times experienced, 
and always relieved by bleeding plentifully. 

As Dr. Darwin was a votary to poetry, as well as medi- 
cine, he occasionally sent his effusions in that way, to one 
or other of the monthly publications, but without his name, 
conceiving, from the example of Akenside and Armstrong, 
that the reputation he might acquire by his poetry, would 
operate as a bar to his advancement in the practice of 
medicine. His " Botanic Garden," in which he celebrates 
what he calls the " Loves of the Plants," the first of his 
poems to which he put his name, was not publislied until 
1781, when his medical fame was so well established as to 
iiwlie it safe iox hiiu to indulge his taste in any way he 



288 DARWIN. 

should chiise. Besides, the poem was so amply furnished 
witlj notes, containing the natural history, and accounts of 
the properties of plants, that it did not seem very alien 
from iiis profession. The Botanic Garden is comprised in 
two parts. In the first the author treats of the economy of 
vegetahles, in the second of the loves of the plants. The 
novelty of the design, the brdtiancy of the diction, full of 
figurative expressions, in which every thing was personified, 
rendered the poem for some years extremely popular. But 
the fame which it acquired has in a great degree subsided, 
and it is now little noticed. It is probable, that an inge- 
nious little poem, "The Loves of the Triangles," published 
in a monthly journal, which is a happy iuntation of the 
Darwinian manner, contributed to its decline. 

In 1793, the author published the first volume of" Zoo- 
Domia, or the Laws of Organic Life," 4to. The second 
volume, which completed the author's plan, was printed in 
1796. As the eccentric genius of the author was known, 
great expectations were formed of this work, the labour, 
we were told, of more than twenty years. It was to reform, 
or entirely new model, the whole system of medicine, pro- 
fessing no less than to account for the manner in which 
man, animals, and vegetables are formed. They all, it 
seems, take their origin from living filaments, susceptible 
of irritation, which is the agent that sets them in motion. 
Archimedes was wont to say, "give me a place to stand on, 
and I will move the earth :" such was his confidence in 
his knowledge of the power of the lever. Our author 
said, " give me a fibre susceptible of irritation, and I will 
make a tree, a dog, a horse, a man." " I conceive," he 
says, Zoonomia, vol. I. p. 492, " the primordium, or ru- 
diment of the embryon, as secreted from the blood of the 
parent, to consist in a single living filament, as a muscu- 
lar fibre, whicli I suppose "^o be the extremity of a nerve of 
loco-motion, as a fibre of the retina is the extremity of a 
nerve of sensation ; as, for instance, one of the fibrils 
which compose the mouth of an absorbent vessel ; I sup- 
pose this living filament, of whatever form it may be, 
whether sphere, cube, or cylinder, to be endued with the 
Ciipacity of being excited into action by certain kinds of 
stimulus. By the stimulus of the surrounding fluid in which 
it is received from tlie male, it may bend into a ring, and 
thus form the beginning of a tube. This living ring may 
uovy embrace, or absorb a nutritive particle of the fluid in 



DARWIN. 289 

which it swims, and by drawing it inU> its pores, or joining 
it by compression to its extremities, may increase its owu 
length or crassitude, and, by degrees, the living ring may 
become a hving tube. With this new organization, or ac- 
cretion of parts, new kinds of irritability may commence,'* 
&c,; whence, sensibihty, which may be only an extension 
of irritability, and sensibility further extended, beget per- 
ception, memory, reason, and, in short, all those faculties 
which have been, it seems, erroneously attributed to mind, 
for which, it appears, there is not the smallest necessity ; 
and as the Deity does nothing in vain, of course such a 
being does not exist. It would be useless to enter into a 
further examination of theZoonomia. which has long ceased 
to be popular ; those who wish to see a complete refuta- 
tion of the sophisms contained in it will read with satisfac- 
tion, " Observations on the Zoonomia of Dr. Darwin, by 
Thomas Brown, esq." published at Edinburgh in 8vo, in 
1798. In ISOI, the author published " Phytologia, or the 
Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening ;" but the pub- 
lic, tired with the reveries of the writer, let this large book 
of 600 pages in 4to pass almost unnoticed. As little atten- 
tion was paid to a small tract on Female Education, which, 
had little indeed to attract notice. " It is," Miss Seward 
observes, " a meagre work, of little general interest, those 
rules excepted, which are laid down for the preservation 
of health." It is, however, harmless, a character that can 
by no means be accorded to the Zoonomia, as may be 
gathered from the strictures which the author of his life in 
the Cyclopeedia has justly passed on that work, and to which 
nothing could have given even a temporary jjopularity 
but the activity of a small sect to whom the autlior's po- 
litical and religious, or rather irreligious principles, were 
endeared. His son, Charles Darwin, who died at Edin- 
burgh the 15th of May, 1778, while prosecuting bis studies 
in medicine, deserves to be noticed for having discovered 
a test distinguishing pus from mucus, for which a gold 
inedal was adjudged him by the university. " As the re- 
sult of numerous experiments," he says, " when any one 
wishes to examine the matter expectorated by his patient, 
let him dissolve a portion of it in vitriolic acid, and another 
portion of it in caustic alkalin lixivium, and then add 
pure water to both solutions ; if there is a precipitation iu 
<each solution, it is clear the expectorated matter is pus ; 
if there is no precipitation, the matter is simply mucus.'* 
Vol. XL U 



290 D A R W I N. 

Mr. Darwin left an unfinished essay on the retrograde mo- 
tion of the absorbent vessels of animal bodies in some 
diseases. This was, some time after the death of the 
young man, published by his father, together with the 
dissertation for which he had obtained the prize medal. * 

DASSIER (John), medallist to the republic of Geneva, 
where he was born in 1678, aspiring to be employed in the 
English mint, struck a series of kings of England in a good 
style, though not all of them taken from originals. He 
published them by subscription in 1731, at six guineas the 
set in copper, and fifteen in silver. He published also 
a series of events in the Roman History ; some of the 
great characters in the reign of Louis XVI.; and a series of 
the reformers. He died in 1763. His brother James was 
in London three or four years to solicit a place for John in 
the mint, but did not succeed. James Antony Dassier, ne- 
phew of John, came over on Croker's death in 1740, was 
next year appointed second engraver to the mint, returned 
to Geneva in 1745, and died at Copenhagen in 1759. The 
imcle had begun large medals of some of our great men 
then living; the nephew did several more, which were sold 
in copper at 7^. Gr/. each. There is also a numerous suite 
of Roman liistory in small medals of bronze, by the younger 
Dassier, that are good performances.^ 

D'ASSOUCL SeeASSOUCL 

DATI (AuGUSTiNii), a learned Italian writer, the son of 
a lawyer at Sienna, was born at that place in 1420, and 
after acquiring some knowledge of the Latin languao-e, 
was put under the care of Francis Philelphus, an eminent 
teacher at Sienna, who at the end of two years declared 
he was his best scholar. Dati, however, at this time suf- 
fered not a little from the ridicule of his schoolfellow.s, 
owing to a hesitation in his speech, which he is said to 
have cured by the means which Demosthenes adopted, that 
of speaking with small pebbles in his mouth. After 
finishing his classical studies, he learned Hebrew of some 
Jews, arid then entered on a course of philosophy, juris- 
prudence, and theology. During his a])plication to these 
branches, Odo Anthou}-, duke of Urbino, from the very 
favourable account he had of him, invited him to Urbino 
to teach the belles Icttres. Dati accordingly set out for 

' Rees's Cyc!(ipa»ilia, from Miss Seward's Mi-moirs of Dr. Darwin. 
2 Diet. Hist, ill wliiul) we suspect iheie is some confusjou iu ascertaininj^ the 
works of these dilfereut artists. Walpole's Antcdotes, 



DAT I. 291 

that city in April 1442, where he was received with every 
mark of honour and friendship by the duUe, but tliis pro- 
sperity was not oF long duration. fJe had not enjoyed it 
above a year and a half, when the duke, whose excesses 
and tyranny had rendered him odious, was assassinated in 
a public tumult, witii two-of his favourites ; and Dati, who 
was iiated by the populace merely because he was respected 
by the duke, was obliged to take refuge for his life in a 
church, while the mob pillaged his house. The successor 
of Odo, prince Frederick, endeavoured to console Dati for 
this misfortune, and offered him a pension, besides recom- 
pense for all he had lost; but Dati could not be reconciled 
to a residence so liable to interruption, and in 1444 re- 
turned to Sienna. Here, after refusing the place of se- 
cretary of the briefs, offered to him by pope Nicholas V. he 
opened a school for rhetoric and the classics, and acquired 
so much reputation, that the cardinal of Sienna, Francis 
Piccolomini, formally granted him permission to lecture on 
the Holy Scriptures, although he was a married man ; and 
at the same time gave him a similar licence to teach and 
lecture on any subject, not only in his college, but in all 
public places, and even in the church, where, his son in- 
forms us, he once preached during Lent. He was also 
much employed in pronouncuig harangues on public 
occasions in Latin, many of which are among his works. 
Nor were his talents confined to literature, but were the 
means of advancinjj him to the first offices of the maois- 
tracy, and the republic of Sienna entrusted him wiih the 
negociation of various affairs of importance at Rome and 
elsewhere. In 1457 he was appointed secretary to the re- 
public, v/hich he held for two years. Towards the close 
of his life he laid aside the study of profane authors for 
that of the Scriptures and ecclesiastical iiistorians. He 
died of the plague at Sienna, April G, 1478. His son 
Nicolas collected his works for publication, " Augustini 
Dathi, Senensis, opera," of which there are two editions, 
that printed at Sienna, 1503, fol. and an inferior in cor- 
rectness, printed at Venice, 1516. They consist of trea- - 
tises on the immortality of the soul ; letters; three books 
on the history of Sienna; a history of Piombino; on gram- 
mar, &c. &c. * 

> Moreri. — Niceron, vol. XL. — Fabiic. Med. Lat. — Glemeut Eibl. Cu- 
■rieuse, 

V 2 



^9!^ DAT I. 

DATI (Charles), professor of polite literature at Flo- 
tence^ where he was born, became famous, as well for his 
works as for the eulogies which many writers have bestowed 
dn him. He behaved with great courtesy to all learned 
travellers who went to Florence, many of whom expressed 
their acknowledgment of it in their writings^ but of his 
personal history, his countr^^Tien have left us little account. 
He was a member of the academy della Crusca, and irt 
that quality took the name of Smarrito, and became one 
of the chief ornaments of that society. He made a pane- 
gyric upon Lewis XIV. in Italian, and published it at Flo- 
rence in 1699 ; the French translation of it was printed at 
Rome the year following. That monarch gave him a pen- 
sion of an hundred pistoles, with a liberal invitation to 
France, which however he declined. He had already pub- 
lished some Italian poettis in praise of Louis. The book 
entitled " Lettera di Timauro Antiate a Filaleti, della vera 
storia della Cicloide, e della famosissima esperienza dell* 
argento vivo," and printed at Florence in 1663, was written 
by him ; for it appears from the 26th page of the letter, 
that the pretended Timauro Antiate is no other than 
Charles Daii. In this work he endeavours to prove that 
father Mursennus is not the inventor of the cycloid, as is 
said in the history of it, but that the glory of that inven- 
tion belongs to Galileo ; the other, that Torricelli was in^ 
iiocent of plagiarism, when he pretended to be the first 
who explained the suspension of quicksilver in a glass tube 
by the pressure of the air, for that he was the real author 
of this supposition. But the chief work to which our Dati 
applied himself, was the " Vite dei Pittori," which he 
published in 1667. This, which was to have embraced the 
lives of all the ancient painters, contains only those of 
Zeuxis, Parrhasius, Apeiles, and Protogenes. He pub- 
lished also a valuable collection of eles^ant and useful les- 
sons for writing Italian, entitled " Prose Fiorentini." ¥e\v 
men had studied that language with more attention. He 
died in 1675, greatly lamented for his personal, as well as 
public character. An)ong his numerous correspondents we 
iind the name of our illustrious Milton. There is a recent 
and much improved edition of his " Vite dei Pittori" by 
Della Valle, published at Sienna, 1795, 4lo. ' 

» Fabroni Vifae Italorutn : the best account yet given. — Niceron, ro!, XXIVn 
— Tiraboschi, — Clement Bibl. Curieuse, 



D A V A L. 293 

DAVAL (Peter), esq. of the Middle Temple, a bar- 
rister at law, afterwards master in cljancery, and at the 
time of his death, Jan. 8, I7C3, accomptant-genc-ral of 
that court, is noticeable as having translated the " Memoirs 
of cardinal de Rctz," which were printed in 1723, l2mo, 
with a dedication to Congreve, who encouraged the jiub- 
lication. He was F. K. S. and an able niathen)atician. la 
the dispute concerning elliptical arclies, at the time when 
Blackfriars bridge was built, application was made by the 
committee for his opinion on the subject, and his answer 
may be seen in the London Magazine for March, 1760. 
'He also published in 1761, " A Vindication of the New 
Calendar Tables, and Rules annexed to the Act for re- 
gulating the commencement of the year," &c. 4to.' 

DAVENANT (John), bishop of'Salisbury in the seven- 
teenth century, was born in Watling-street, London, 
where his father was an eminent merchant, but originally- 
descended from the ancient family of the Davenants of 
Sible-Heningham, in Essex. What school he was edu- 
cated in, we cannot find. But, on the 4th of Jul}', 1587, 
he was admitted pensioner of Queen's college, in Cam- 
bridge. He regularly took his degrees in arts ; that of 
master in 15^4. A fellowship was offered him about the 
same time; but his father would not permit him to accept 
of it, on account of his plentiful fortune : however, alter 
his father's decease he accepted of one, into wh;cii he was 
admitted September 2, 1597. Being thus settled in the 
college, he distinguished himself, as before, by his learning 
and other excellent qualifications. In 1601 he took his 
degree of B. D. and that of D. D in 1609. This same 
year last-mentioned he was elected lady Margaret's pro- 
fessor, which place he enjoyed till 1621. He was also one 
of her preachers in 1609 and 1612. On the 20th of Oc- 
tober 16i4, he was admitted master of his coll.^ge, and 
continued in that station till April 20, 1622. And so on- 
siderable diil he become, that he was one of tliose em uent 
English divines sent by king James L to the synod ol Dort, 
in 1618. He returned to England in May 1619, after 
having visited the principal cities in the Low Count rics. 
Upon the death of his brother-in-law, Dr. Robert Town^ 
son, he was nominated bishop of Salisbury; and was elected 
June 11, 1621, confirmed November 17 following, au(i 

1 Preceding edit. — and Nichols's Bowycr, 



294 D A V E N A N T. 

eonsecrated the 18th of the same month. He continued 
in favour during the remauider of king James the First's 
reign ; but in Lent 1630-1, he incurred the displeasure of 
the court for nieddhng (in a sermon preached before the 
king at \\ hitehall) with the predestinarian controversy ; 
*' all curious search" into which his majesty had strictly 
enjoined " to be laid aside." In a letter to Dr. Ward, 
bishop Davenant gives the following account of this un- 
pleasant affair. As soon as his sermon was ended, it was 
signitied to him that his majesty was much displeased that 
he had stirred this question, wiiich his majesty had for- 
bidden to be meddled withal, one way or other : the bi- 
shop's answer was, that he had delivered nothing but the 
received doctrine of our church, established in the 17th 
article, and that he was ready to justify the truth of what 
he had then taught. He was told, the doctrine was not 
gainsaid, but his inajesty had given command these ques- 
tions should not be debated, and therefore he took it more 
offensively that any should be so bold as in his own hearing 
to break his royal commands. To this he replied, that he 
never understood his majesty had forbidden the handling 
of any doctrine comprised in the articles of our church, 
but only raising of new questions, or adding of new sense 
thereunto, which he had not done, nor ever should do. 
Two days after, when he appeared before the privy-coun- 
cil, Dr. Sam. Harsnet, archbishop of York, made a speech 
nearly half an hour long, aggravating the boldness of 
bishop Davenant's offence, and shewing many inconve- 
niencies that it was likely to draw after it. When the 
archbishop had finished his speech, the bishop desired, 
that since he was called thither as an offender, he might 
not be put to answer a long speech upon the sudden ; but 
that his grace would be pleasetl to charge him point by. 
point, and so to receive his answer ; for he did not yet un- 
derstand wherein he had broken any commandment of his 
majesty's, which was taken for granted. After some pause, 
the archbishop told him he knew well enough the point 
which was urged against him, namely, the breach of the 
king's declaration. Then he stood upon this defence, that 
the doctrine of predestination, which he taught, was not 
forbidden by the declaration; 1st, Because in the decla- 
ration all the articles are estiiblished, amongst which, the 
article of predestination is one. 2. Because all ministers 
j).re urged to subscribe unto the truth of the article, and 



D A V E N A N T. 295 

all subjects to continue in tlie profession of that as well as 
of the rest. U|jon these uiitl such hke <5roui)ds, he ga- 
thered that ii couUl noL be esteemed amongst forljidden, 
curious, or needless doctrines ; and here he desired that 
out of any clause in the declaration it might be shewed 
him, that keeping himself within the bounds of the article, 
he had tiansgressed his majesty's conunand ; but the de- 
claration was not produced, nor any particular words in it; 
only this was urged, that the king's will was, that for the 
peace of the church these high questions should be for- 
borne. He added, that he was sorry he understood not 
his majesty's intention ; which if he had done before, he 
should have made clioice of some other matter to treat of, 
which might have given no ollence ; and that for the time 
to come, he should conform himself as readily as any other 
to his majesty's command ; whereupon he was dismissed. 
At his departure he entreated the lortls of the council to 
let his majesty understand that he had not boldly, or wil- 
fully and wittingly, against his declaration, meddled with 
the fore-named point; and that now, understanding fully 
his majesty's mind and intention, he should humbly yield 
obedience thereunto. But although he was dismissed with- 
out farther censure, and was even admitted to kiss the king's 
hand, yet he was never afterwards in favour at court. He 
died of a consumption April 20, 1641, to which a sense 
of the melancholy event approaching did not a little con- 
tribute. Among other benefactions, he gave to Queen's- 
college, in Cambridge, the perpetual advowsons of the 
rectories of Cheverel Magna, and ^Newton Tony, in Wilt- 
shire, and a rent-charge of ill. \0s. per annum, for the 
founding of two Bible-clerks, and buying books for the 
library in tlie same college. His character was that of a maa 
humble and hospitable; painful in preaching and writing; 
and behaving in every station with exemplary gravity and 
moderation. Hewas a man of great learning, and an eminent 
divine ; but strictly attaclied to Calvinism in the article of 
unconditionate predestination, &c. VVMiilst he was at tiie 
synod of Dort, he inclined to the doctrine of universal re- 
demption ; and was for a middle way between the two ex- 
tremes, maintaining the certainty of the salvation ot a 
certain number of the elect; and that offers of pardon were 
sent not only to all that should believe and repent, but to 
all that heard the Gospel ; that grace sufficient to convince 
and persuade the impenitent [so as to lay the blame of 



296 D A V E N A N T. 

their condemnation upon themselves) went along with 
these offers ; that the redemption of Christ and his merits 
were applicable to these ; and consequently there was a 
possibility of their salvation. He was buried in Salisbury 
cathedral. 

He published: 1. A Latin Exposition on St. Paul's 
Epistle to the Colossians. *' Expositio Epistolae D. Pauli 
ad Colossenses," fol. The third edition was printed at 
Cambridoe, in 1639. It is the substance of lectures read 
by our author as lady Margaret professor. So was also the 
followinc:. 2. " Praelectiones de duobus in Theolofjia 
controversis capitibus ; de Judice Controversiarum, primo; 
de Justitia habituali & actual;, altero," Cantab. 1631, fol. 
3, In 1634 he published the questions which he had dis- 
puted upon in the schools, 49 in number, under this title : 
*' Determinationes QuaestionumquarundaniTheologicarum, 
per reverendissimum virum Joannem Davenantium," &c. 
fol. 4. The last thing he published, was, " Animadver- 
sions upon a treatise lately published, and entitle^, God's 
Love to Mankind, manifested by disproving his absolute 
decree for their damnation," Camb. 1641, 8vo. This trea- 
tise was written by S. Hoard.' 

DAVENANT (Sir William), a poet and dramatic 
writer of considerable note, was the son of John Davenant, 
who kept the Crown tavern or inn at Oxford, but owing to an 
obscure ins nuation in Wood's account of his birth, ithas been 
supposed that he was the natural son of Shakspeare ; and 
to render this story probable, Mrs. Davenant is represented 
as a woman of beauty and gaiety, and a particular favou- 
rite of Shakspeare, who was accustomed to lodge at the 
Crown, on his journies between Warwickshire and London. 
Modern inquirers, particularly Mr. Steevens, are inclined 
to discredit this story, which indeed seems to rest upon no 
very sound foundation. Young Davenant, who was born 
Feb. 1605, very early betrayed a poetical bias, and one of 
his first attempts, when he was only ten years old, was an 
ode in remembrance of master William Shakspeare : this 
is a remarkable production for one so young, and one who 
lived, not only to see Shakspeare forgotten, but to con- 
tribute, with some degree of activity, to that instance of 
depraved taste. Davenant was educated at the grammar- 
school of All Saints, in his native city, under Mr. Edward 

> JJiog. Brit.— Fuller's Worthies. 



D A V E N A N T. 297 

Sylvester, a teacher of high reputation. In 1621, the 
year in which his father served the office of mayor, he en- 
tered of Lincohi-collet^e, but being encoiiraged to try lji:j 
success at court, he appeared there as page to Frances 
duchess of Kichinond, a lady of great iniiuence and fasiiion. 
He afterwards resided in the family of the celebrated sir 
Fulke Greville, lord Brooke, who was liimseif a poet and 
a patron of poets. The murder of this nobleman in 1628 
depriving hint of what assistance he might expect from his 
friendship, Davenant had recourse to the stage, on which 
he produced Ids first dramatic piece, the tragedy of Albo- 
vine, king of the Londiards. 

This play had success enough to procure him the recom- 
mendation, if uoiliing more substantial, of many persons 
of distinction, and of the wits of the times ; and with such 
encouraa^ement he renewed his attendance at court, addincr 
to its pleasures by his dramatic efforts, and not sparingly 
to tiie mirth of his brethren the satirists, by ttie unfor- 
tunate issue of some of his licentious gallantries. For 
several years his plays and masks were acted with the 
greatest applause, and his character as a poet was raised 
very high by all who pretended to be judges. On the 
death of Ben Jonson, in 1638, the queen procured for him 
the vacant laurel, which is said to liave given such ofience 
to Thomas May, his rival, as to induce him to join the 
disaffected party, and to become the advocate and histo- 
rian of ti)e republican parliament. In 1639, Davenant was 
appointed " Governor of the king and queen's company 
acting at the Cockpit in Drury-lane, during the lease which 
Mrs. Elizabeth Beeston, alias Hutcheson, hath or doth 
hold in the said house." When tiie civil commotions had 
for some time subsisted, the peculiar nature of them re- 
quired that public amusements shoidd be the decided ob- 
jects of popular resentment, and Davenant, who had 
administered so copiously to the pleasures of the court, 
was very soon brought under suspicions of a more serious 
kind. In May 1641, he was accused before the parlia- 
ment, of being a partner with niany of the king's friends, 
in the design of bringing the army to London for liis ma- 
jesty's protection. His accomplices effected their esca))e, 
but Davenant was apprehended at Feversham, and sent up 
to London. In July following he was bailed, but on a se- 
cond attempt to withdraw to France, was taken in Kent. 
At last, however, he contrived to make his escape witli-^ 



29S B A V E N A N T. 

out farther impediment, and remained abroad for some 
time, Th.' mutive of his figlit appears not to have been 
cowardice, but an unwillingness to sacritice his lile to po- 
pular lury, while there was any prospect of liis being able 
to devote it to the service of his royal niaster. Accordingly, 
when the quLen sent over a considerable quantity of military 
stores for the nse of the earl of Newcastle's army, Davenant 
resolutely ventured to return to Kngland, and volunteered 
his services under that nobleman, who had been one of his 
patrons. The earl made him lieutenant-general of his 
ordnance, a post for which, if he was not previously pre- 
pared, he qualified himself with so much skill and success, 
that in September 1643, he was rewarded with the honour 
of knighthood for the service he rendered to the royal 
cause at the siege of Gloucester, Of his military prowess, 
however, we have no farther account, nor at what time he 
found it necessary, on the decline of the king's affairs, to 
retire again into i" ranee Here he was received into the 
confidence of the queen, who in 1646 employed him in 
one of her importunate and ill-advised negociations with 
the kins:, who was then at Newcastle. About the same 
time Davenant had embraced the popish religion, a step 
which probably recommended him to the queen, but which, 
when known, could only tend to increase the animosity of 
the republicans against the court, which was already too 
closely suspected of an attachment to that persuasion. The 
object of his negociation was to persuade the king to save 
his crown by sacrificing the church ; a proposition which 
his majesty rejected witti becoming dignity ; and this, as 
Jord Clarendon observes, " evinced an honest and con- 
scientious principle in his majesty's mind, which elevated 
him above all his advisers." The queen's advisers in the 
measure were, his majesty knew, men of no religious 
principle, and he seems to have resented their sending an 
ambassador of no more consequence than the manager of 
a play-house. 

During our poet's residence at Paris, where he took up 
his habitation in the Louvre, with his old friend lord 
Jermyn, he wrote the first two books of his " Gondibert," 
which were published in England, but without exciting 
much interest. Soon after he commenced projector, and 
hearing that vast improvements might be made in the 
loyal colony of Virginia, by transporting good artificers, 
whom France could at that tirae spare, he embarked with 



D A V E N A N T. 299 

a number of them, at one of the ports in Normandy, This 
humane and apparently wise scheme ended almost imme- 
fUately in the capiurc of his vessel on the French coast, by 
one of the parliamentary ships of war, which carried him 
to the Isle of W igiit, where he was imprisoned at Cowcs- 
castle. After endeavouring to reconcile himself to this un- 
fortunate and perilous situation, he resumed his pen, and 
proceeded with his " Gondibei t," but being in continual 
dread of his life, he made hut slow progress. His fears, 
indeed, were not without foundation. In 1650, when the 
parliament had triumj)hed over all opposition, he was or- 
dered to be tried by a high commission court, and for this 
purpose was removed to the Tower of London. His bio- 
graphers are not agreed as to the means by which he was 
saved. Some impute it to the si)licitations of two aldermen 
of York, to whom he had been hospitable when they were 
his prisoners, and wliom he suffered to escape. Others 
inform us that Milton interposed. Both accounts, it is 
hoped, are true, and it is certain that after tlie restora- 
tion, he repaid Milton's interference in kind, by preserving 
him from the resentment of the court. He remained, 
however, in prison for two years, and was treated with 
some indulgence, by the favour of the lord-keeper, Whit- 
locke, whom he thanked in a letter written with peculiar 
e-legancc of style and compliment. 

By degrees he obtained complete enlargement, and had 
nothinor to regret btit the wreck of his fortune. In this di- 
lemma, he adopted a measure which, like a great part of 
his conduct throughout life, shews him to have been a man 
of an undaunted and unaccommodating spnit, fertde in 
expedients, and possessed of no common resources of mind. 
Indeed, of all schemes, tliis seemed the most unlikely to 
succeed, and even the most dangerous to propose. Yet, 
in the very teeth of luitioiial prejudices or principles, and 
at a time when all dramatic entertainments were suspended, 
discouraged by the prutectoral court, and anathematized 
by the people, he conceived, that if he could contrive to 
open a theatre of some kind, it would be sure to be well 
filled. Viewing his difBcnlties with great precaution, he 
proceeded by slow steps, and an apparent reluctance to 
revive what was so generally obnoxious. Having, how- 
ever, obtained the countenance of lord Whitlocke, sir 
John Maynard, and other persons of rank^ he ojiened a 
theatre in Rutland-house, Chart^rhouse-yard, on the 21st 



300 D A V E N A N T. 

of May, 1656, and performed a kind of non-descript en- 
tertainments, as they were called, which were dramatic in 
every thing but the names and form, and some of them 
were called operas. When he found these relished and 
tolerated, he proceeded to more regular pieces, and with 
such advantages in style and manner, as, in the judgment 
of the historians of the stage, entitle him to the honour of 
being not only the reviver, but the improver of the legiti- 
mate drama. These pieces he afterwards revised, and 
published in a more perfect state, and they now form the 
principal part of his printed works, although modern taste 
has lon<i^ excluded them from the staore. 

On the restoration, he received the patent of a play- 
house, under the title of the Duke's Company, who first 
performed in the theatre in Portugal row, Lincoln's- inn- 
fields, and afterwards in that in Dorset-gardens*. Here 
he acted his former plays, and such new ones as he wrote 
after this period, and enjoyed the public favour until his 
death, April 7, 1668, in his sixty-third year. He was in- 
terred with considerable ceremony, two days after, in 
Westminster-abbey, near the place where the remains of 
May, his once rival, had been pompously buried b}' the 
parliament, but were ordered to be removed. On his 
grave-stone is inscribed, in imitation of Ben. Jonson's short 
epitaph, " O rare sir William Davenant." 

The life of sir William Davenant occupies an important 
space in the history of the stage, to which he was in many 
respects a judicious benefactor, by introducing changes of 
scenery and decorations ; but he assisted in banishing 
Shakspeare to make way for dramas that are now into- 
lerable. He appears to have been, in his capacity of ma- 
nager, as in every part of life, a man of sound and origi- 
nal sense, firm in his enterprizcs, and intent to gratify the 
taste of the public, with little advantage to himself, as he 
died insolvent. The greater part of his works was pub- 
lished in his life-time, in 4to, but they were collected in 
1C73, into one large folio volume, dedicated by his widow 
to the duke of Vork. 

As a poet, his fame rests chiefly on his " Gondibert," 
but the critics have never been afjreed in the share he de- 

* Tlie roadev who is curious in such the Stacp, where he will find a minute 
maitirs, must be refeired to Dave- detail of Davpnant's various grants, !i- 
jiiini's life in the Biogrnphia Uritan- cenccs, and diisputes with his rival ma- 
pica, and to Mr. Malone's History of nagers. 



D A V E N A N T. 301 

rives from it. The reader who declines to judge for him- 
self, may have ample satisfaction in the opinions of the 
late bishop Hurd, and of Dr. Aikin, as detailed in the con- 
clusion of his life in the Biographia Britannica. It will 
probably be found on an unprejudiced perusal of this ori- 
ginal and very singular poem, that the opinions of Dr. 
Ailiin and Mr. Headley are founded on those principles 
of taste and feeling wl)ich cannot be easily opposed ; yet 
in considering the objections of Dr. Hurd, allowance is to 
be made for one who is so powerful and elegant an advo- 
cate for the authorized qualities of the Epic species, and 
for arguments which if they do not aitach closely to this 
poem, may yet be worthy of the consideration of those 
whose inventive fancy leads them principally to novelty of 
manner, and who are apt to confound the arbitrary caprices 
with the genuine powers of a poet. His miscellaneous pieces 
are of very unequal merit. Most of ihem were probably 
written in youth, and but few can be reprinted with the 
hope of satisfying a polished taste. Complimentary 
poetry, so much the fashion in his times, is now perused 
with indifference, if not disgust; and although the gratitude 
which inspired it may have been sincere, it is not Ijighly 
relished by the honest independence which belongs to the 
sons of the muses.' 

DAVENANT (Charles), the eldest son of sir William 
Davenant, was born in 1656, and was initiated in gram- 
mar-learninii at Cheame in Surrey. Thouirh he had the 
misfortune to lose his father when scarce twelve years of 
age, yet care was taker) to send him to Oxford to (inisb 
his education, where he became a commoner of Baliol col- 
lege in 1671. He took no degree, but went to London, 
where, at the age of nineteen, he distinguished himself 
by a dramatic performance, the only one he published, 
entitled, *' Circe, a tragedy, acted at his royal highness 
the duke of York's theatre with great applause." This 
play was not printed till two years after it was acted ; upon 
which occasion Dryden wrote a prologue, and the earl of 
Rochester an epilogue. In the former, there was an apo- 
logy for the author's youth and inexperience. He had a 
considerable share in the theatre in right of his father, 
which probaldy induced him to turn his thoughts so early 
to the stage; however, he was not long detained there 

1 Biog. Brit. — Johnson and Chalmers's Pgets, 1810. 



302 D A V E N A N T. 

either hy that, or the success of his play, but applied him* 
self to the civil law, in which, it is said, he had the degree 
of doctor conferred upon hiai by the university of Cann- 
bridge. He was elected to represent the borough of St. 
Ives in Cornwall, in the first parliament of James II. which 
was summoned to meet in May 1685 ; and, about the same 
time, jointly empowered, with the master of the revels, to 
inspect all plays, and to preserve the decorum of the stage. 
He was also appointed a commissioner of the excise, and 
continued in that employment for near six years, that is, 
from 1683 to 1689: however, he does riOt seem to have 
been advanced to this rank before he had gone through 
some lesser employments. In 1698 he was elected for the 
borough of Great Bedwln, as he was again in 1700. He 
was afterwards api)ointed inspector-general of the exports 
and imports; and this employment he held to the time of 
his death, which happened Nov. 6, 171 K Dr. Davenant's 
thorough acquauuance with the laws and constitution of 
the kingdom, joined to his great skill in figures, and his 
happiness in applying that skill according to the principles 
advanced by sir William Petty in his Political Arithmetic, 
enabled him to enter deeply into the management of af- 
fairs, and procured him great success as a writer in poli- 
tics; audit is remarkable, that though he was advanced 
and preferred under the reigns of Charles II. and James II. 
yet in all his pieces he reasons entirely upon revolution 
principles, and compliments in the highest manner the vir- 
tues and abilities of the prince then upon the throne. 

His first political work was, " An Essay upon Ways and 
Moans of supplying the War," 1695. In this treatise he 
wrote with so much strength and perspicuity upon the na- 
ture of funds, that whatever pieces came abroad from the 
author of the Essay on Ways and Means, were sufficiently 
recommended to the public ; and this was the method he 
usually took to distinguish the writings he afterwards pub- 
lished. 2. "An Essay on the East- India Trade," 1697. 
This was nothing more than a pamphlet, written in form 
of a letter to the marquis of Normandy, afterwards duke 
of Buckinghamshire. 3. " Discourses on the public reve- 
nues, and of the trade of England. Part 1. To which is 
added, a discourse upon improving the revenue of the 
state of Athens, written originally in Greek by Xenophon, 
and now made English from the original, with some histo- 
rical notes by another hand," 1698. This other hand was 



D A V E N A N T. 303 

Walter Moyle, esq. who addressed his discourse to Dr. 
Davenaut. There is a joassage in it which shews, that 
there were some thoughts of sending over our author in 
quality ol director-general to the East- Indies; and is also 
a clear testiinony what that great man's notions were, in 
regard to the iujportance of liis writings. It is this : " The 
great trade to iht; East-Indies, witli some few regulations, 
might be established upon a bottom more consistent with 
the manufactures of Enghmd ; but in all appearance this is 
not to be compased, unless some public-spirited man, with 
a masterly genius," meaning Dr. Davenant himsilf, " be 
placed at the head of our affairs in India. And though we, 
who are his friends, are loth to lose him, it were to be wished 
for the good of the kingdom, that the gentleman, whom com- 
mon lame and the voice of the world have pointed out as 
the ablest man for such a station, would employ his excel- 
lent indiimciit and talents that way, in the execution of so 
noble and useful a desi2:u." 4. " Discourses on the Pub* 
lie Revenues, and on the Trade of England, which more 
immediately treat of the foreign traffic of this kingdom., 
Part II." 1698. 5. " An Essay on the probable Method 
of making the people gainers in the Balance of Trade," 
1699. 6. " A Discourse upon Grants and Resumptions : 
shewing, how our ancestors have proceeded wiih such 
ministers as have procured to themselves grants of the 
crown revenue; and that the forfeited estates ought to be 
applied to the payment of public debts," 1700, 7. " Es- 
says upon the Balance of Power ; the right of making War, 
Peace, Alliances ; Universal Monarchy. To which is 
added, an Appendix, containing the records referred to in 
the second essay," 1701. It was in this book that our 
author was carried away by his zeal to treat the church, or 
at least some churchmen, in so disrespectful a manner, as 
to draw upon himself a censure from one of the houses of 
convocation. 8. " A picture of a Modern Whig, in two 
parts," 1701. There is, however, nothing but general re- 
port, founded upon the likeness of style and other circum- 
stantial evidence, to prove that this bitter pamphlet fell 
from the pen of our author ; and, if it did, he must be al- 
lowed to have been the greatest m ister of invective that 
ever wrote in our lansyuairc; others have attributed it to 
Defoe. 9. " Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad, 
in two parts," l70i. This is the first piece our author 
published after the lime that he is supposed to have re- 



504 I) A V £ N A N T. 

conciled himself to the ministry ; it was suspected to be 
written at the desire of lord Halifax, and was dedicated to 
the queen. It drew upon him the resentment of that 
party, by whom he had been formerly esteemed, but who 
now bestowed upon him as ill language, or rather worse, 
than he had received from his former opponents. 10, *' Re-' 
flections upon the Constitution and Management of the 
Trade to Africa, through the whole course and progress 
thereof, from the beginning of the last century to this 
time," &c. 1709, fol. in 3 parts. 11. "A Report to the 
honourable the Commissioners for putting in execution the 
Act, entitled, an Act for the taking, examining, and stat- 
ing the Public Accounts of the Kingdom, from Charles 
Davenant, LL. D. inspector-general of the exports and im- 
ports," 1712, part I, 12. *' A Second Report to the Ho- 
nourable the Commissioners," &c. 1712. It may be neces- 
sary to observe, that several of the above-recited pieces 
were attacked in the warmest manner, at the time they 
were published ; but the author seems to have satisfied 
himself in delivering his sentiments and opinions, without 
shewing any further concern to defend and support them 
against the cavils of party zeal and contention. Most of 
his political works were collected and revised by sir Charles 
Whitworth, 1771, in 5 vols. 8vo. 

*' Davenant," says sir John Sinclair, " is certainly a most 
valuable political author; and considering that the modern 
system of politics, founded on a spirit of commerce, on 
public credit, on paper circulation, and on skill in finance, 
was then in a manner in its infancy, he undoubtedly was a 
writer whose proGrress was more advanced than could have 
been expected at that time. It appears from his works, 
that he had access to official information, from which he 
derived many advantages. He seems, however, to have 
depended too much upon political arithmetic, or the 
strength of figures, v.hicli ought only to be resorted to 
when the fact itself cannot be ascertained, being only a 
succedaneum when belter evidence cannot be procured. 
He was unfortunately, ulso, a party writer, and saw every 
thing in the manner the best calculated to promote the 
views and purposes of his political friends at the time- 
F.very thing they did was right, whilst every action of their 
enemies was ill-intended and ruinous. He possessed a 
very considerable command of language, and is sometimes 



DA V E N A N T. 30.3 

too prolix; but on the whole there are certainly very few 
that can rival him as a political author."' 

DAVENANT (William), younger brother to the for- 
mer, and fourth son to sir William Davenant, was edu- 
cated at Magdalen hall, in the university of Oxford, where 
he took the tlcgree of bachelor of arts, July 19, 1677. He 
translated into English from the French a book entitled, 
*' Animadversions upon the famous Greek and Latin His- 
torians," written by the celebrated Mr. la Mothe le Vayer, 
tutor to the French king Louis XUL, which was very 
well received. He took the degree of master of arts 
July 5, 1680, and about the same time entering into holy 
orders, was presented to a living in the county of Surre}', 
by his patron Robert Wymondsole, of Putney, esq. with 
whom he travelled into France ; and in the summer of 
1681, as he was diverting himself by swimming in a river 
near Paris, he was unfortunately drowned in the sight of 
his pupil, to the great regret of all who knew him, having 
added to great natural parts, by an assiduous application to 
study, as much sound learning and true knowledge as could 
be expected in a person so young.* 

DAVENPORT (Christopher), a learned Englishman, 
was born at Coventry, in Warwickshire, about 1598, and 
educated in grammar-learning at a school in that city. 
He was sent to Merton-college in Oxford at fifteen years 
of age ; where, spending two years, he, upon an invita- 
tion from some Romish priest, afterwards went to Dovva3^ 
He remained there for some time ; and then going to 
Ypres, he entered into the order of Franciscans among the 
Dutch there, in 1617. After several removals from place 
to place, he became a missionary into England, where he 
went by the name of Franciscus a Sancta Clara ; and at 
length was made one of the chaplains to Henrietta Maria, 
the royal consort of Charles I. Here he exerted himself 
to promote the cause of popery, by gaining disciples, 
raising money among the English catholics to carry on 
public matters abroad, and by writing books for the ad- 
vancement of his religion and order. He was very eminent 
for his uncommon learning, being excellently versed in 
school-divinity, in fathers and councils, in philosophers, 
and in ecclesiastical and profane histories. He was. Wood 

' Biog. Brit. — Ath, Ox. vol. II. — Ccnsiira Literaria, vol. I. 
2 Biog. Brit. 

Vol. XI. X 



306 DAVENPORT. 

tells us, a person of very free discourse, while bis fellow- 
labourer in the same vineyard, Hugh Cressey, was re- 
served ; of a lively and quick aspect, while Cressey was 
clouded and melancholy : all which accomplishments made 
him agreeable to protestants as well as papists. Arch- 
bishop Laud, it seems, had some knowledge of this per- 
son ; for, in the seventh article of his impeachment, it is 
said, that *' the said archbishop, for the advancement of 
popery and superstition within this realm, hath wittingly 
and willingly received, harboured, and relieved divers 
popish priests and Jesuits, namely, one called Sancta 
Clara, alias Davenport, a dangerous person and Francis- 
can friar, who hath written a popish and seditious book, 
entitled, < Deus, Natura, Gratia,' kc. wherein the thirty- 
nine articles of the church of England, established by act 
of parliament, are much traduced and scandalized : that 
the said archbishop had divers conferences witli him, while 
he was writing the said book," &c. To which article, the 
archbishop made this answer : " I never saw that Francis- 
can friar, Sancta Clara, in my life, to the utmost of my 
memory, above four times or five at most. He was first 
brought to me by Dr. LinJsell : but 1 did fear, that he 
would never expound the articles so, that the church of 
P^nsrland might have cause to thank him for it. He never 
came to me after, till he was almost ready to prmt another 
book, to prove that episcopacy was authorised in the church 
by divine right; and this was after these unhappy stirs be- 
gan. His desire was, to have this book printed here; but 
at his several addresses to me for this, I still gave him this 
answer: That I did not like the way which the church of 
Rome went concerning episcopacy ; that I would never 
consent, that any such book from the pen of a Romanist 
should be printed here ; that the bishops of England are 
very well able to defend their own cause and calling, with- 
out any help from Rome, and would do so when they saw 
cause : and this is all the conference I ever had with him." 
Davenport at this time a!)sconded, and spent most of those 
years of trouble in obscurity, sometimes beyond the seas, 
sometimes at London, sometimes in the country, and 
sometimes at Oxford. After the restoration of Charles H. 
when the marriage was celebrated between him and Cathe- 
rine of Portugal, Sancta Clara became one of her chap- 
lains; and was for the third time chosen provincial of ids 
order for England, where he died May 31, 1680, and was 



DAVENPORT. 307 

buried in the clmrch-yard belonging to the Savoy. It was 
his desire, man}' years before bis death, to retire to Ox- 
ford to die, purposely that his bones might l^e laid in St. 
Ebb's church, to which tlie mansion of the Franciscans or 
grey-friars sometime joined, and in which several of the 
brethren were anciently interred, particularly those of his 
old friend John Day, a learned friar of his order, who was 
there buried in 165H. He was the author of several works: 
1. " Paraphrastica exposiiio articuluruin confessionis An- 
glicae :" tliis book was, we know not why, much censured 
by the Jesuits, who would fain have had it burnt; but 
being- soon after licensed at Rome, all farther rumour about 
it stopped. 2. " Deus, Natnra, Gratia : sive, tractatus de 
prsedestinatione, de meritis," &c.: this book was dedicated 
to Charles I. ; and Prynne contends, that the whole scope of 
it, as well as the paraphrastical exposition of the articles, 
reprinted at the end of it in 1635, was to reconcile the 
king, the church, and the articles of our religion, to the 
church of Rome. He published also a great number of 
other works, which are not now of consequence x^nough tu 
be mentioned. * 

DAVENPORT (John), elder brother of Christopher just 
mentioned, was born at Coventry in 1597, and sent from 
thence wiih his brother to Merton-college in 1G13; but 
while Christopher went to Doway, and became a catholic, 
John went to London, and became a puritan. He was 
minister of St. Stephen's in Coleman-street, and esteemed 
by his brethren a person of excellent gifts in preaching, 
and in other qualities belonging to a divine. About 1630 
he was appointetl one of the feoffees for the buying in 
impropriations, which involved hiin in a dispute with arch- 
bishop Laud ; but that project miscarrying, he left his 
pastoral charge about 1633, under pretence of opposition 
from the bishops, and went to Amsterdam. Here, endea- 
vouring to be a minister in the English congregation, and 
to join with them in all duties, he was opposed by John 
Paget, an elder, on account of some difference between 
them about baptism ; upon which he wrote, in his own def 
fence, " A Letter to the Dutch Classis, containing a just 
complaint against an unjust doer ; wherein is declared the 
miserable slavery and bondage that the English church at 

> Ath. Ox. Yol. II.— Dotid's Cli. Hist.—Moreri,— Foppeo Bibl. Be1g.-»NiSj»» 
JOB, voL XXIII.— AnU). Wood's Life. 

X 2 



308 DAVENPORT. 

Amsterdam is now in, by reason of the tyrannical govern- 
ment and corrupt doctrine of Mr. Joiin Paget, tiieir mini- 
ster," Amst. 1634. Two or three more pieces relating to 
this controversy were published by him afterwards ; and 
such were his parts and learning, that he drew away from 
them many of their congregation, to whom he preached 
and prayed in private houses. 

In the beginning of the rebelUon, he returned into Eng- 
land, according to Wood, as other nonconformists did, 
and had a cure bestowed on him ; but Neal says he came 
back in disguise, which is most probable, as this happened 
about 1637, when the power of the church was yet in 
force. In this year he went into New-England, and be- 
came a pastor of New-Haven there. He afterwards re- 
jiioved from thence to Boston in 1668, where he died 
March 15, 1670. He was the author of, a " Catechism 
containing the chief heads of the Christian religion," which 
was printed at London in 1659; several sermons; the 
power of congregational churches asserted and vindicated ; 
and of an exposition of the Canticles, which has never 
been published. Neal agrees that his notions of church- 
discipline were very rigid, and that he was a millenarian, 
being fully persuaded in his own mind of the thousand 
years' personal reign of Christ upon earth ; but adds, that 
notwithstanding this or any other singular notions he might 
entertain, he was one of the greatest men that New Eng- 
land ever enjoyed.* 

DAVID (St.), the patron of Wales, was the son of 
Xantus or Santus, prince of Ceretica, now Cardiganshire, 
and born about the close of the fifth century. Being 
brought up to the church, he was ordained priest; he then 
retired to the Isle of Wioht, and for some time lived in 
the accustomed solitude of those times. PVom this he at 
length emerged, and went into Wales, where he preached 
to the Britons. He built a chapel at Glastonbury, and 
founded twelve monasteries, the principal of which was in 
the vale of Ross, near Mencvia. Of this monastery fre- 
quent mention is made in the acts of the Irish saints. The 
rules he established for his monasteries were, as usual; 
rigid, but not so injudicious or absurd as some of the early 
monastic statutes. One of his penances was manual la- 
bour in agriculture, and, for some time at least, there was 

' *th. Oy. vol. II. — Neal's History of New Englaml, vol II. 



DAVID. 309 

no accumulation of worldly goods, for whoever was admit- 
ted as a member, was enjoined to leave every thing of iliat 
kind behind him. When the synod of Brevy in Cardigan- 
shire was held in the year 5 1 'J, 8t. David was invited to it, and 
was one of its chief champions against Pelagianism. At tiie 
close of this synod, St. Dubricius, archbishop of Caerleon 
upon Usk, resigned his see to St. David, who translated 
it to Menevia, now called St. David's. Here he died about 
the year 544 in a very advanced age. He is praised by his 
biographers for his eloquence and powers in conversion, 
and has, accordinsf to them, been in all succeedin<r aires 
the glory of the British church. He wrote the " Decrees 
of the Synod of Victoria," which he called soon after he 
became bishop ; the " Rules of his Monasteries ;" some 
" Homilies," and " Letters to king Arthur," all of which 
have perished.' 

DAVID, the greatest philosopher that ever Armenia 
produced, flourished about the middle of the fifth century, 
and acquired at Athens the knowledge of the language and 
the philosophy of the Greeks. He translated such of their 
books as he thought the most useful. Far from supersti- 
tiously following Plato and Aristotle, like our European 
doctors, he selected from both the one and the other what 
seemed just and judicious to him, at the same time detect- 
ing and refuting their errors. His writings were preserved 
in the French king's library, and probably are now in the 
imperial. They are methodical and solid. His st}le is 
flowing, accurate, and clear. ^ 

DAVID (George), a most extraordinary fanatic, was 
the son of a waterman of Ghent, and educated a srlazier, 
or, as some say, a glass- painter. He began about 1525 
to preach that he was the true Messiah, the third David, 
nephew of God, not after the flesh, but after the spirit. 
** The heavens," he said, " being empty, he was sent to 
adopt children worthy of that kingdom ; and to restore 
Israel, not by death, as Christ, but by grace." With the 
Sadducees, he denied eternal life, the resurrection, and 
the last judgment : with the Adamites, he was against mar- 
riage, and for a community of women : and with the follow- 
ers of Manes, he thought that the body only, and not the 
soul, could be defiled with sin. According to him, the 

1 Butler's Lives of the Saints. — Wharton's Anglia Sacra.— Tanner. 

2 Diet. Hiet.— Moreri. 



310 15 A V I D. 

Sbuls of unbelievers ought to be saved, and those of the 
apostles damned. Lastly, he affirmed it folly to believe 
that there was any sin in denying Jesus Christ ; and ridi- 
culed the martyrs for preferring death to apostacy. A 
prosecution being commenced against him and his follow- 
ers, he fled first to fViesland, and from thence to Basil, 
where he lurked under the name of John Brnck. He died 
in that city in 1556, promising to his disciples, that he 
shouhl rise again in three days ; which, as it happened, 
was not altogether false ; for the magistrates of Basil, un- 
derstanding at length who he was, about that time, dug 
up his corpse, wliich, together with his writings, they 
caused to be burned by the common executioner. This 
George David had many followers in his life-time, and it 
is even said that there are still some remains of them in 
Holstein, Friesland, and other countries, whose temper 
6,nd conduct seem to discredit the exaggerated account 
which some writers have given of their founder.' 

DAVID DE DINANT^ See DINANT. 

DAVIES (John), D. D, an eminent writer and anti- 
quary, was born in the latter part of the sixteenth century 
in Denbighshire, and educated by William Morgan, after- 
wards bishop of St. Asaph. He was admitted a student of 
Jesus-college, Oxford, in 1589, where he took one degree 
in arts, and afterwards became a member of Lincoln-col- 
lege in the same university. He was rector of Malloyd, or 
Maynlloyd in Merionethshire, and afterwards a canon of 
St. vVsaph, to which dignity he was promoted by Dr. Parry, 
then bishop, whose chaplain he was. He commenced 
doctor in 1616, and was highly esteemed by the university, 
says Wood, as well versed in the history and antiquities of 
his own nation, and in the Greek and Hehrew languages ; 
a most exact critic, and indefatigable searcher into ancient 
writings, and well acquainted with curious and rare au- 
thors. The time of his death is not known. His works 
are, 1. " Antiquae Linguse BritannicoC nunc communiter 
dictic Cambro-BritanniciE, a suis Cymroecae vel Camhricte, 
ab aliis Wailicce rudimenta," &c. 1621, 8vo. 2. " Dic- 
tionarinn) Latino-Britannicum," 1632, folio. With this is 
])rinied, " Dictionarium Latino-Britannicum," which was 
begun and greatly advanced by Thomas Williams, physi- 
cian, before 1600. It was afterwards completed and pub- 

• Moreri.'— Mosbeim. 



I) A V I E S. 311 

lished by Dr. Davies, 3. " Adagia Britannica, autliorum 
Biitannicorum notniiia, &. qiiando Horuerunt," 1632, printed 
at the end of the dictionary before mentioned, 4. " Ada- 
giorum Britanniconnn specimen," M.S. Bibl. Bodl. He 
also assisted W. Morgan, bishop of Landaff, and Richard 
Parry, bishop of St. Asaph, in translating the Bible into 
Welsh, in that correct edition which came out in 1620, 
He also translated into the same lanonase (which he had 
studied at vacant honrs tor 30 years) the book uf '• lieso- 
lution," written by Robert Parsons, a Jesuit. ' 

DAVIES (John), an eminent and learned critic, 
was the son of a n)erchant in London, and born there 
April 22, 1679. Alter being educated in classical learning 
at the Charterhouse-school, lie was, June 8, 1695, admit- 
ted of Queen's-college in Cand)ridge, wliere he tool; the 
degree of B. A. in 1698. (3n July 7, 1701, he was chosen 
fellow of his colleoe ; and the year followiufj took the de- 
grce of M. A, and was proctor in 1709. In 17 11, having 
distinguished himself by several learned publications here- 
after mentioned, he was collated by Moore, bishop of Ely, 
to the rectory of Fen-Ditton near Cambridge, and to a 
prebend in the church of Ely ; taking the same year the 
degree of LL. D. Upon the death of Dr. James, or, as 
Bentham says. Dr. Humphrey Gower, he was, on March 
23, 1716-17, chosen master of Queen's-college; and 
created D. D. the same year, when George I. was at Cam- 
bridge. He died March 7, 1731-2, aged 53, and was bu- 
ried in the chapel of his college, where a flat marble stone 
was laid over his grave, with a jjlain inscription at his own 
desire. His mother, who was dauuhter of sir John Tur- 
ton, knt. is said to have been living in 1743. 

This learned man was not, as far as we can find, the author 
of any original works, but only employed himself in publish- 
ing some correct editions of Greek and Latin authors of an- 
tiquity. In 1703 he published in octavo, 1. " Maxinii Tyrii 
dissertationes, Gr. & Lat. ex interpretatione Heinsii," &c. 
2. " C. Julii Ciesaris, et A. Hirtii qua) extant omnia," Cant. 
1706, 4to; 1727; the latter the best edition. 3. " AL Mi- 
nucii Felicis Octavius," Cant. 1707, 8vo. This was printed 
again in 171 2, 8vo, with the notes greatly enlarged and cor- 
rected, and the addition of Commodianus, a writer of the 
Cyprianic age. 4. He then projected new and beautiful 

1 Ath, Ox. rd. I.— LeUcrs fiom Gent. Mag. vol. LX. p. 23. 



312 D A V I E S. 

editions of Cicero's philosophical pieces, by way of sup- 
plement to what GrtBvius had published of that author; 
and accordingly published in I70y, his " Tusculanarum 
disputationum, libri quinque," 8vo. This edition, and 
that of 1738, which is the fourth, have at the end the 
emendations of his intimate friend Dr. Bentley. The other 
pieces were published by our author in the following order : 
*• De Natura Deorum," 1718. " De divinatione & de 
fato," 1721. "Academica," 1725. " De legibus," 1727. 
*' De finibus bonorum & malorum," 1728. These several 
pieces of Tully were printed in 8vo, in a handsome man- 
lier, were very favourably received, and have passed, most 
of them, through several editions. He had also gone as 
far as the middle of the third book of Cicero's Offices ; 
but being prevented by death from finishing it, he recom- 
ihended it in his will to the care of Dr. Mead, who put it 
into the hands of Dr. Thomas Bentley, that he migiit fit 
and prepare it for the press. But the house where Dr. 
Bentley lodged, which was in the Strand, London, being 
set on fire through his carelessness, as it is said, by read- 
inc: after he was in bed, Davies's notes and emendations 
perished in the flames. 5. Another undertaking published 
by our learned author, which we have not already men- 
tioned, was, '' Lactantii Firmiani epitome divinarum in- 
stitutionum," Cantab. 1718, 8vo. 

His labours have been well received both at home and 
abroad. Abbe d'Olivet in particular, the French transla- 
tor of " Cicero de Natura Deorum," gives him just com- 
mendations for his beautiful edition of that book ; but 
seems afterwards to have altered his opinion, as appears 
from the harsh judgment he passed upon him, in the pre- 
face to his new edition of Cicero's works.* 

DAVIES (Sir John), a poet and statesman, was the 
third son of John Davies, of Tisbury, in Wiltshire, not a 
tanner, as Anthony Wood asserts, but a gentleman, for- 
merly of New Inn, and afterwards a practitioner of law in 
his native place. His mother was Mary, the daughter of 
Mr, Bennett, of Pitt-house in the same county. When 
not fifteen years of age he was sent to Oxford, in Michael- 
mas term 1585, where he was admitted a commoner of 
Queen's college, and prosecuted his studies with perse- 
verance and success. About the beginning of 1588 he 

• Biog. Brit. — Cole's MS Athenae in Brit. Mu».— Nichols's Bowyer. 



D A V I E S. 313 

removed to the Middle Temple, but returned to Oxford 
in 1590, anl took ttie degree of B. A. At the Temj)le, 
wliile he did not neglect the study of the law, he rendered 
himself obnoxious to tlie discipline of the place by various 
youthful irregularities, and after being fined, was at last 
removed from commons. Notwithstanding this, he was 
called to the bar in 1595, but was again so indiscreet as to 
forfeit his privileges by a quarrel with Mr. Richard Martin, 
whom he beat in the Temple hull. For this offence he 
was in Feb. 1597-8 expelled by the unanimous sentence of 
the society. Martin was, like himself, a wit and a poet, 
and had once been expelled for improper behaviour. Both, 
however, outlived their follies, and rose to considerable 
eminence in their profession. Martin became reader of 
the society, recorder of London, and member of parliament, 
and enjoyed the esteem of Selden, Ben Jonson, and other 
men of learning and genius, who lamented his premature 
death in 1618, 

After this affair Davies returned to Oxford, where he 
is supposed to have written his poem on the " Immortality 
of the Soul," There is some mistake among his biogra- 
phers as to the time of its publication, or even of its be- 
ing written. If, as they all say, he wrote it at Oxford in 
1598, and published it in 1599, how is either of these 
facts to be reconciled with the dedication to queen P^liza- 
beth, which is dated July 11, 1592? Mr, Park, whose 
accuracy and zeal for literary history induced him to put 
this question to the readers of the Biographia Britannica, 
has not attempted a solution, and it must remain in this 
state, unless an edition of the " Nosce Teipsum" can be 
found of a prior date, or any ground for supposing that 
the date of the dedication was a typographical error. This 
poem, however, procured to him, as he deserved, a very 
high distinction among the writers of his time, whom, in 
harmony ^f versification, he has far surpassed. Whether 
Elizabeth bestowed any marks of her favour does not ap- 
pear. He knew, however, her love of fiattery, and wrote 
twenty-six acrostic hymns on the words " Elizabetha re- 
gina," which are certainly the best of their kind. 

It is probable that these complimentary trifies made him 
known to the courtiers, for when the queen was to be en- 
tertained by Mr. Secretary Cecil, our poet, by desire, 
contributed his share in " A Conference between a gen- 
tleman usher and a post," a dramatic entertainment, which 



5li D A V I E S. 

<Joes not add much to his reputation. A copy exists in the 
British Museum, Harl. MS. No. 286. His progress from 
being the terrae filius of a court to a seat in parUament is 
not known, but we find that he was chosen a member in 
the last parliament of Elizabeth, which met on the 27th of 
October 1601. He appears to have commenced his po- 
litical career with spirit and intelligence, by opposing 
monopolies, which were at that time too frequently granted, 
and strenuously supporting the privileges of the house, for 
which the queen had not the greatest respect. 

In consequence of the figure he now made, and after 
suitable apologies to the judges, he was restored in Trinity 
term 1601 to his former rank in the Temple. Lord chan- 
cellor Ellesmere appears to have stood his friend on this 
occasion, and Davies continued to advance in his profes- 
sion, until the accession of James I. opened new prospects. 
Having gone with lord Hunsdon to Scotland to congra- 
tulate the new king, the latter, finding that he was the 
author of " Nosce Teipsum," graciously embraced him, 
as a mark of his friendship, and certainly no inconsiderable 
proof of his taste. 

In I60'i he was sent as solicitor-general to Ireland, and 
immediately rose to be attorney-general. Being after- 
wards appointed one of the judges of assize, he conducted 
himself with so much prudence and humanity on the 
circuits as greatly to contribute to allay the ferments which 
existed in that country, and received the praises of his 
superiors, " as a painful and well-deserving servant of his 
majesty." In Trinity term 1606 he was called to the de- 
gree of serjeant-at-law, and received the honour of knight- 
hood on the nth of February 1607. His biographer at- 
tributes these promotions to the patronage of lord Elles- 
mere and the earl of Salisbury, with whom he corre- 
sponded, and to whom he sent a very interesting account of 
a circuit he performed with the lord-deputy in July 1607. 
Such was Ireland then, that a guard of " six or seven score 
foot and fifty or three score horse" was thought a neces- 
sary protection against a peasantry recovering from their 
wildness. 

In 1608 he was sent to Enoland with the chief iustice 
in order to represent to king James the effects which the 
establishment of public peace, and these progresses of the 
law, had produced since the commencement of his majesty's 
reign. His recejition on such an occasion could not but 



I) A V I E S. 315 

tje favourable. As his residence in Ireland adoriled him 
many opportunities to study the history and genius of that 
people, he published the result of his inquiries in 1612 
under the title of <♦ A Discovery of the true causes why 
Ireland was never entirely subdued till the beginning of 
his majesty's reign." This has been reprinted four times, 
and has always been considered as a most valuable docu- 
ment for political inquirers. Soon after the publication of 
it he was appointed the king's scrjeant, and a parliament 
having been called in Ireland in the same year, he was 
elected representative for the county of Fermanagh, the 
first that county had ever chosen ; and after a violent 
struggle between the Roman catholic and protestant mem- 
bers, he was chosen speaker of the house of commons. In 
1614 he interested himself in the restoration of the society 
of antiquaries, which had been institued in 1590, but af- 
terwards discontinued, and was now again attempted to be 
revived by sir James Ley; at this period it could enume- 
rate among its members the names of Cotton, Hackwell, 
Camden, Stow, Spelman, and Whitlock. In 1715 he pub- 
lished " Reports of Cases adjudged in the king's courts 
in Ireland." These, says his biographer, were the first 
reports of Irtsh judgments which had ever been made 
public during the four hundred years that the laws of Eng- 
land had existed in that kingdom. To the Reports is an- 
nexed a preface, addressed to lord chancellor Ellesmere, 
" which vies with Coke in solidity and learning, and equals 
Blackstone in classical illustration and elegant language." 

In 1616 he retired from Ireland, and found that a 
change had taken place in the English administration. He 
continued, however, as king's serjeant, in the practice of 
the law, and was often associated as one of the judges of 
assize. Some of his charges on the circuits are still ex- 
tant in the British Museum. In 1620 we find him silting 
in the English parliament for Newcastle-under-Line, where 
he distinguished himself chiefly in debates on the affairs of 
Ireland, maintaining, against Coke and other very high 
authorities, that England cannot make laws to bind Ire- 
land, which had an independent parliament. Amidst these 
employments he found leisure to republish his " Nosce 
Teipsum" in 1622, along with his " Acrostics" and " Or- 
chestra," a poem on the antiquity and excellency of danc- 
ing, dedicated to Charles prince of Wales, originally ptib- 
iished in t5i>C, But this first edition has escaped the 



S16 D A V I E S. 

researches of modern collectors, and the poem, as we now 
find it, is imperfect. Wuether i: was not so in the first 
edition may be doubted. His biographer thinks it was 
there perfect, but why afterwards mutilated cannot be 
ascertained. 

Sir John Davies lived four years after this publication, 
employed, probably, io the duties of his profession ; and 
at the time when higrher honours were within his reach, he 
died suddenly of an apoplexy in the night of the 7ih of 
December 1626, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He 
had previously supped with the lord keeper Coventry, who 
gave him assurances of being chief justice of England. 
He v\as buried in St. Martm's Church in the Fields, where 
a monument was erected to his memory, which appears to 
have been destroyed when the old church was pulled down. 

He married, while in Ireland, Eleanor, the third daughter 
of lord Audiev, by whom he had one son, who was an 
idiot and died young, and a daughter, Lucy, who was 
married to Ferdinando lord Hastings, afterwards earl of 
Huntingdon. Sir John's lady appears to have been an 
enthusiast ; a volume of her prophecies was published in 
1649, 4 to. Anthony Wood informs us that she foretold 
the death of her husband, who turned the matter off with 
a jest. She was harshly treated during the republic for 
her officious prophecies, and is said to have been confined 
several years in Bethlem hospital, and in the Tower of 
London, where she suffered all the rigour that could be 
intlicted by those who would tolerate no impostures but 
their own. She died in 16.52, and was interred near her 
husband in St. Martin's church. The late earl of Hunting- 
don intormed lord Mountmorres the historian of the Irish 
parliament, t}:at sir John Davies did not appear to have 
acquired any landed property in Ireland from his great 
employments. The character ot sir John Davies as a law- 
yer, is that of great ability and learning. As a politician 
he stands unimpeached of corruption or servility, and his 
*' Tracts" are valued as the re5'-:!t of profound knowledge 
and investigation. Thev were republi^hed with some origi- 
nals in 1786 by Mr. George Chalmers, who prefixed a Lite of 
the Author, to which the present sketch is greatly indebted. 

As a poet, he was one of the first of his day, but has 
been unaccountably neglected, although his style ap- 
proaches the refinement of modern times. The best ar- 
biters of poetical merit, however, seem to be ccrreed that 



D A V I E S. 317 

his " Nosce Teipsum" is a noble monument of learning, 
acuteness, command of language, and facility of versitica- 
tion. It has none, indeed, of tiie sublinicr flights which 
seem adapted to philosophical poetry, but he is particu- 
larly happy in his images, which strike by their novelty 
and elegance. As to his versification, be has anticipated 
the harmony which the modern ear requires, more suc- 
cessfully than any of his contemporaries. 

His " Orchestra," if we consider the nature of the sub- 
ject, is a wonderful instance of what a man of genius may 
elicit from trifles. His *' Acrostics" are considered as the 
best ever written, but that praise is surely not very great. 
It is amusing, however, to contemplate him gra\ely en- 
deavouring to overcome the diflficulties he had created, 
and seeking with great care to exchange an intruding word 
for one better suited to his favourite initials. 

According to Wood, he wrote a version of some of the 
Psalms, which is probably lost. It is more certain that he 
wrote epigrams, which were added to Marlow's translation 
of Ovid's Epistles, printed at Middleburgh in 1596. Mr. 
Ellis has given two of them among his " Specimens,'* 
which do not excite much curiosity for the rest. IVIarlow's 
volume is exceedinfrlv scarce, which mav be accounted for 
by the following information: in 1599, the hall of the 
stationers underwent as great a purgation as was carried on 
in don Quixote's library. Marston's Pvgmalion, Marlow's 
Ovid, the satires of Hall and Marston, the epigrams of 
Davies, &c. were ordered for immediate conflagration by 
the prelates \V'hitgift and Bancroft. There are other 
pieces frequently ascribed to sir John Davies, which, Mr. 
Ritson thinks, belong to John Davies of Hereford, but as 
our author superintended the edition of his poems printed 
about four years before his death, he included all that he 
thought proper to acknowledge, and probablv, if we ex- 
cept the epigrams, nearly all that he had written. The 
lord Dorset recommended an edition of his works to Tate, 
who published the " Nosce Teipsum," with the preface. 
In 1773 another edition was published by Mr. Thomas 
Davies from a copy corrected by Mr. William Thom- 
son, the poet, including the "Acrostics" and "Orchestra.'* 
The whole have been added to the late edition of the Poets.* 

■- ' Johnson and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810. — Biog. Brit. — Life, by Mr. 
George Chahners, pr» fixed to bis Tracts. — Wartoa's Hist, of Poetry. — EUis's 
Specimens. — Ath. Ov. vol. I. £cc. &c. 



315 DAVIE S. 

DAVIES (John), a translator of some note in the se- 
venteenth century, was born at Kidwelly in Carmarthen- 
shire, May 25, 1625, and first educated in Jesus college, 
Oxfoid, which he entered in May 1641, and where he 
continued until Oxford became the seat of the civil war, 
when his relations removed him to St, John's college, Cam- 
bridn-e. Here he conformed to the professions of the 
republican party, but was better employed in studying the 
French tongue, and afterwards, during a visit to France, 
made himself com[)lete master of it. On his return he 
settled in London, and lived entirely by translating for the 
booksellers, writing prefaces, and superintending editions 
of books. He appears to have retired afterwards to Kid- 
welly, his native place, where he died July 22, 1693, 
leaving, says Wood, " the character of a genteel, harm- 
less, and quiet man." W^ood has given a list of upwards 
of thirty volumes translated by him on various subjects, the 
choice probably of his employers, history, travels, novels, 
lives, criticism, medicine, &c. * 

DAVIES (Miles), a Welsh clergyman, was born in 
Tre'r-Abbot, in Whiteford parish, Flintshire. Of his per- 
sonal history little is known, except that he was a good 
scholar, very conversant in the literary history of his coun- 
try, and very unfortunate in attempting to turn his know- 
lege to advantage. He was a vehement foe to Popery, 
Arianism, and Socinianism, and of the most fervent loyalty 
to George I. and the Hanoverian succession. Owing to 
some disgust, he quitted his native place, and probably his 
profession when he came to London, as he subscribes' him- 
self " counsellor-at-law ;" and in one of his volumes has a 
long digression on law and law-writers. Here he com- 
menced author in the humblest form, not content with 
dedicating to the great, but hawking his books in person 
from duor to door, where he was often repulsed with rude- 
ness, and seldom appears to have been treated with kind- 
ness or liberality. How long he carried on this unpros- 
perous business, or when he died, we have not been able 
to discover. Mr. D' Israeli, who has taken much pains to 
rescue his name from oblivion, suspects that his mind be- 
came disordered from poverty and disappointment. He 
appears to have courted the Muses, who certaitdy were 
;iot very favourable to his addresses. The most curious, of 

> Ath. Ox. vol, II. 



D A V I E S. 31J 

his works consist of some volumes under the general title 
of " Athenge Britannicac," 8vo, 1715, &c. a kind of bib- 
liographical, biographical, and critical work, *' the greatest 
part (says Baker, the antiquary) borrowed from modern 
historians, but containing some things more uncommon, 
and not easily to be m.et with." The first of these vo- 
lumes, printed in 1715, is entitled Eixojv M(«fo-/3i^M«»i, sive 
Icon Libellorum, or a Critical History of Pamphlets." In 
this he styles himself " a gentleman of the inns of court." 
The others are entitled " Athenre Britannicae, or a Critical 
History of the Oxford and Cambridge \V'riters and Writ- 
ings, kc. by M. D." London, 171G, 8vo. They are all of 
BO great rarity, that Dr. Farmer never saw but one volume, 
the first, nor Baker but three, which were sent to him as a 
great curiosity by the earl of Oxford, and are now depo- 
sited in St. John's college, Cambridge. In the British 
Museum there are seven. From the " Icon Libellorum," 
the only volume we have had an opportunity of perusing 
attentively, the author appears to have been well acquainted 
with English authors, their works and editions, and to have 
occasionally looked into the works of foreign bibliographers.' 
DAVIE8 (Samuel), an American clergyman of dissent- 
ing principles, and known by tliree volumes of sermons, in 
yvo, edited by Dr. Gibbons, of London, was born Novem- 
ber 3, 1724, in the county of Newcastle in Delaware, in 
America, and was early designed by his parents for the 
ministry, in which he became very popular. In 1759 he 
succeeded Mr. Jonathan Edwards as president of his col- 
lege of New Jersey, which he held to his death, Feb. 

4, 1761. He was succeeded in his post by the rev. Dr. 

5, Finley, who died on the 1 7th of July 1766, being the 
fourth president that filled that chair in the short space of 
less than nine years. In the sermons above mentioned 
Mr. Davies deserves little praise for style, and his editor 
not much for judgment of selection.^ 

DAVIES (Snkyd), the son of a physician who practised 
in Wales, was born at Shrewsbury, and educated at Eton, 
whence he removed to King's college, Cambridge, and 
regularly took the degrees of A. B. 1732, A. M. 1737, and 
D, D. 1759. He was early noticed by his school-fellow, 
Cornwallis, archbishop of Canterbury, when bishop of 

' Pennant's Hist, of Whiteford, p. 115.— D'Tsraeli's Calamities of Authors. 
' Dr. GJbbuns's Fiinpia! Sarmon for PreiiUent Davies, 1761, 8vo. 



320 D A V I E S. 

Lichfield and Coventry, who appointed him his chaplain, 
and collated him to a canonry of Lidifield, and in 1751 
presented him to the mastership of St, John's hospital, 
Lichfield. He was also archdeacon of Derhy, and rector 
of Kingsland, in Herefordshire, in the gilt of his family. 
He died Feb. 6, 1769, mucli esteemed for his learning and 
amiable disposition; and his numerous poems, both printed 
and manuscript, bear ample testimony to his talents. He 
wrote several of the anonymous imitations of Horace in 
Duncombe's edition, 1767, and at the end of vol. IV. is 
given the character of the ancient Romans from a poem 
by him, styled " 'I'he Progress of Science." He has many 
poems in Dodsley's and Nichols's collections, and one, in 
Latin, preserved in the " Alumni Etonenses." Mr. Pen- 
nant also, in his " Tour in Wales," vol. H. p. 422, has 
preserved some animated lines by Dr. Davies on Caractacus, 
which he says were delivered almost extempore at one of 
the annual meetings held on Caer Caradoc some years 
ago by gentlemen from different parts, to celebrate the 
name of that renowned British chieftain, in prose or verse. * 
DAVIES (Thomas), a man of considerable talents, and 
who prided himself on being through life " a companion 
of his superiors," was born about 1712. In 1728 and 
1729 he was at the university of Edinburgh, completing 
his education, and became, as Dr. Johnson used to say of 
him, " learned enough for a clergyman." That, however, 
was not his destination, for in 1736 we find him among the 
dramatis personse of Lillo's celebrated tragedy of " Fatal 
Curiosity," at the theatre in the Haymarket, where he 
was the original representative of young Wilmot, under 
the management of Henry Fielding. He afterwards com- 
menced bookseller in Duke's court, opposite the church 
of St. Martin-in-the-fields, and afterwards in Round 
court in the Strand, but met with misfortunes which in- 
duced him to return to the theatre. For several years he 
belonged to various companies at York, Dublin, and other 
places, particularly at Edinburgh, where he appears to 
have been at one time the manager of the theatre. At 
York he married miss Yarrow, daughter of a performer 
there, whose beauty was not more remarkable than the 
blamelessness of her conduct and the amiablencss of her 

' Nichols's and Dodsley's Poems. — Harwood's Alumni Etonenses. — Chiirton's 
Liv«s ot the rouiidera of Biazeniiose college, p. ^fB. 



D A V I E S. 32% 

manners. In 1753 he returned to London, and witli Mrs, 
Davies was engaged at Drury-lane, where they reniaiiied 
for several years in good estimation with the town, and 
played many characters, if not with great excellence, at 
least with propriety and decency. Churchill, in his indis- 
criminate satire, has attempted to fix some degree of ridi- 
cule on Mr. Davies's perfonftance, which, just or not, had 
the elFect of driving him from the stage, which ahout 1762 
he exchanged for a shop in Russel-street, Covent Garden ; 
but his efforts in trade were not crowned with the success 
which his abilities in his profession merited. In 1778 he 
became a bankrupt; when, such was the regard enter- 
tained for him by his friends, that they readily consented 
to his re- establishment ; and none of them, as he says him- 
self, were more active to serve him than those who had 
suffered most by his misfortunes. Yet, all their efforts 
might possibly have been fruitless if his powerful and firm 
friend Dr. Johnson had not exerted himself to the utmost 
in his behalf. He called upon all over whom he had any 
influence to assist Tom Davies ; and prevailed on Mr. 
Sheridan, patentee of Drury-lane theatre, to give him a 
benefit, which he granted on the most liberal terms. In 
1780, by a well-timed publication, the " Life of David 
Garrick," which has passed, through several editions, Mr. 
Davies acquired much fame, and some money. He af- 
terwards published " Dramatic Miscellanies," in 3 vols, 
of which a second edition appeared a few days only before 
the author's death. His other works are, 1. " Some Me- 
moirs of Mr. Henderson." 2. " A Review of lord Chester- 
field's Characters." 3. A " Life of Massinger." 4. Lives 
of Dr. John Eachard, sir John Davies, and Mr. Lillo, 
prefixed to editions of their works, published by Mr. Da- 
vies ; and fugitive pieces without number in prose and 
verse in the St. James's Chronicle, and almost all the pub- 
lic newspapers. The compiler of this article in the last 
edition of tliis Dictionary, informs us that he " knew him 
well, and has passed many convivial hours in his company 
at a social meeting, where his lively sallies of pleasantry- 
used to set the table in a roar of harmless merriment. 
The last time he visited them he wore the appearance of a 
spectre ; and, sensible of his approaching end, took a so- 
lemn valediction of all the company." Mr. Davies died 
the 5th of May, 17S5, and was buried, by his own desire, 
in the vault of St. Paul, Covent Garden* close by the side 
Vol. XL Y 



^23 P A V I E S. 

of his next door neighbour, the late Mr. Grignion, watch- 
maker. Mrs. Davies died Feb. 9, 1801. Tom Davies, as 
he was familiarly called, was a good-natured and con- 
scientious man in business as in private life, but his thea- 
trical bias created a levity not consistent with prudence. 
Had he been rich, he would have been liberal : Dr. Camp- 
bell used to say he was not a booksdlefj but a gentleman 
who dealt in hooks.'''' ' 

DAVILA (GiLLES Gonzales), a Spanish ecclesiastic, 
and historiographer to the king of Spain, was a native of 
the town of Avila-, from which he derived his name. He 
accomi)anied the cardinal Pierra Deza to Rome, and made 
great progress in the study of sacred and profane history. 
On his return to Spain, he was presented to a benefice iu 
the church of Salamanca ; and being invited to Madrid in 
1612, he was appointed king's historiographer for Casiille. 
He composed in Spanish, "A History of the Antiquities of 
Salamanca ;" the " Life of Alphonso Tostat ;" " Theatro 
de las Grandesas de Madrid ;" " Theatro ecclesiastico de 
las iglesias *de las Indias;" a life of Henry HI. king of Cas- 
tilie, &c. and other works. He died in 1658, upwards of 
eighty years old.^ 

DAVILA (Louis), a Spanish gentleman, native of Pla- 
centia, was commander in the order of Alcantara, and ge- 
neral of cavalry for Charles V. at the siege of Metz in 
1532. The duke of Guise had the command of that place. 
Davila sent a trumpet to him to ask for a fugitive slave who 
had run off with a horse of great value, which was only a 
pretext for gaining an observation of the town. The duke 
of Guise was not a man to be so easily imposed upon : 
however, he sent him back the horse, which he ransomed 
with his own money; and, as the slave had pushed on 
/arther, he sent him word, that " he was already a good 
way in France ; and that a slave became free on setting 
his foot on that ground." He wrote historical memoirs of 
the war carried on by that emperor against the protestants 
of Germany, printed for the first time in Spain, 1546, 
and afterwards translated into Latin and French. The 
president Thuanus censures him for his partiality in favour 
of Charles V. There is also by him, " Memoires de la 
Guerre d'Afrique." ^ 

' Nichols's Bowyer. — Boswell's Life of Johnson. — Granger's Letters, by Mal- 
colm, p. 16 — 69. 

» Moreri and Diet. Hist, in Avila. ' Ibid, in Avila. 



D A V I L A. 323 

DAVILA (Henry Catherine), a celebrated historian, 
was the son of Anthony Davila, who was constable of the 
kingdom of Cyprus when it was under tlie power of the 
Venetians ; but having lost his situation by the conquest 
made by the Turks in 1570, retired to Venice, and being 
possessed of some property at Sacco in the territory of 
Padua, determined to settle there. His son was born in 
this place in 1576, and named Henry Catherine, in ho- 
nour of Henry IH. and Catherine de Medicis, who had 
shown marks of great respect and kindness for the con- 
stable, when he was in France a little before the war of 
Cyprus. When young Davila had attained his seventh 
year, his father sent him to France, where he was placed 
under the care of the marechal D'Hemery, who had mar- 
ried his father's sister. D'Hemery, who resided at Villars 
in Normandy, gave his nephew an excellent education, 
and at a suitable age introduced him at court as one of the 
pages to the queen mother. At the age of eighteen, he 
served in the war aojainst the Leajrue, and distingfuished 
himself by an ardour which frequently endangered his life. 
In 1 599y the war being concluded by the peace of Ver- 
vins, Davila was recalled by his father and by the Vene- 
tians, and returned to Italy. The republic of Venice en- 
trusted him with various en)ployments, both military and 
civil, such as the government of Candy, and of Dalmatia, 
and what pleased him most, the title of constable was con- 
firmed to him, and in the senate and on all public occa- 
sions he took precedence after the doge. The last office 
to which he was appointed, but which he never enjoyed, 
was that of commander of Crema. On his w^ay to this 
place, the dilFerent towns and villages, through which he 
was to pass, were ordered to furnish him with a change of 
horses and carriages ; but when he arrived at a place near 
Verona, and requested the usual supplies, they were de- 
nied ; and on his remonstrating, a brutal fellow shot him 
dead with a pistol. The assassin was immediately killed 
by one of Davila's sons, who happened to be with him. 
This misfortune happened in 1631, exactly a year after he 
had published, in Italian, his history of the civil wars of 
France, under the title " Istoria delle Guerre civili di 
Francia," Venice, 4tu, reprinted in 1634, 1638, and often 
since. The finest editions are those of Paris, 1644, 2 vols, 
folio, and of Venice, 1733, 2 vols, folio. We have two old 
translations into English, 1647, by Aylesbury, and 1678, 

Y 2 



324 D A V I L A. 

by Cottre!, folio ; hut the best is that by Farneworth, 
1755, 2 vols. 4to. The French have likewise translations 
by Baudouin, 1642, and by Grosley and the abbe Mallet, 
1757, 3 vols. 4to, and there is a Latin translation by Cor- 
nazano, Rome, 1743, 3 vols, 4to. 

This history is divided into fifteen books, and contains 
every thing worth notice that passed, from the death of 
Henry II. 1559, to the peace of Vervins 1598. Lord 
Bolingbroke calls it a noble history, and says, that he 
*' should not scruple to confess it in many respects equal 
to that of Livy." Davila has indeed been accused of too 
much refinement and subtlety, in developing the secret 
motives of actions, in laying the causes of events too deep, 
and deducing them often through a series of progression 
too complicated, and too artfully wrought. But yet, as 
the noble lord goes on in his " Letters on the Study of 
History," 1. v. " the suspicious person, who should reject 
this historian upon such general inducements as these, 
would have no grace to oppose his suspicions to the autho- 
rity of the first duke of Epernon, who had been an actor, 
and a principal actor too, in many of the scenes that Da- 
vila recites. Girard, secretary to this duke, and no con- 
temptible biographer, relates, that this history came down 
to the place where the old man resided in Gascony, a little 
before his death ; that he read it to him ; that the duke 
confirmed the truth of the narrations in it ; and seemed 
only surprised, by what means the author could be so well 
informed of the most secret councils and measures of those 
times." 

Davila is unquestionably one of the best of the French 
historians, but is liable to the objections made to other 
historians, of relying too much on his own invention, all 
the speeches and harangues in his narrative being of his 
own composition, and adapted to his own sentiments of 
the persons and events concerned. Want of variety, it 
has also been observed, is sensibly felt in his history : the 
events indeed are important and various; but the reader 
languishes by a tiresome monotony of character, every 
person engaged being figured a consummate politician, 
governed hy interest only. His partiality to Catherine of 
Medicis may perhaps be forgiven, as she was not only his 
great benefactress, but communicated many particulars ta 
his history. It may be added that the early editions of 



D A V I L A. S25 

this history are more incorrect in geography and names 
than those wliich are of more recent date. ' 

DAVIS (Henry Edwards}, son of Mr. John T)uvis, of 
Windsor, was born Jnly li, 1756, and educated at Eal- 
ing, Mid llesex ; vv.Mence he reniovecl to Bahol colleo-e, 
Oxford, May J 7, 1774, where he took his degree of B. A. 
abunt January 1778. In the spring of that year he wrote 
an Examination of Gibbon's " History of the Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire," in which he evinceil more 
knowledge than is usually found at tiie age of twenty-one. 
This was answered by the historian in a Vindication, which 
brought out a reply by Mr. Davis, who, it is evi.ient, gave 
Gibbon no small uneasiness by attacking him on his vera- 
city and fairness of quotation, in which Gibbon fancied 
himself impregnable. In 1780, Mr. Davis having taken 
his master's degree, and entered into priest's orders, was 
made a fellow of his college; anu, for some time before 
his death, had the? office of tutor, which he discharged with 
a solicitude and constancy too great for the sensibility of 
his mind, and the delicacy of his constitution. A linger- 
ing illness removed him from the society of his many esti- 
mable friends, and deprived the pubhc of his expected 
services. Alfected by the strongest and tenderest of those 
motives, which endear life and subdue fortitude, he sus- 
tained the slow approaches of dissolution, not only resigned 
but cheerful, supported by the principles he had well 
defended. Feb. 10, 1784, without any apparent change, 
between a placid slumber and death, he expired. He was 
buried at Windsor, the place of his nativity. He had 
cultivated a taste for elegant literature, particularly in 
poetry. Though his voice was not strong, his elocution 
was distinct, animated, unaffected, and pathetic. The 
cheerfulness and vivacity of his conversation, the warmth 
and benevolence of his heart, fixed by principle, and ani- 
mated by sentiment, rendered him in his private charac- 
ter, alike amiable and worthy of esteem. ^ 

DAVIS (John), an eminent navigator, of the sixteenth 
century, was born at Sandridge, in the parish of Stoke- 
Gabriel, near Dartmouth in l3evonshire. His birth near 
that eminent sea-port, having given him a fair opportunity, 

> Tiraboschi. — Moieii. — Le Long's Bibl. Historique. — Niceron, vol. XXXIX. 
2 Precedinjf edition of ihis Dictionary.— Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works, 
vol. 11. 



326 DAVIS, 

to which probably was added a strong natural disposition, 
he put himself early to sea ; where, by the help of a good 
master, and his subsequent industr\% knowledge, and ex- 
perience, he became the most expert pilot, and one of the 
ablest navigators of his time. The first public employ- 
ment he had was in 1385, when he undertook to discover 
a new passage, by the north-west parts of America, to the 
East-Indies. For that purpose, he sailed from Dartmouth, 
on the seventh of June, with two barks, one of fifty and 
the otlier of thirty-five tons, which were fitted out at the 
charge of some noblemen and gentlemen; and met, July 19, 
many islands of ice floating, in 60 degrees northern lati- 
tude. They were soon encompassed with them ; and going 
upon some, perceived, that the roaring noise they heard, 
at which they were greatly astonished, was caused only by 
the rolling of the ice together. The next day, they dis- 
covered the southern coast of Groenland, five hundred 
leagues distant from the Durseys, or Missenhead, in Ire- 
land ; and observed it to be extremely rocky and moun- 
tainous, and covered with snow, without any signs of wood, 
grass, or earth to be seen. The shore, likewise, was so 
full of ice, that no ship could come near it by two leagues : 
and so shocking was the appearance of it, and the cracking 
of the ice so hideous, that they imagined it to be a quite 
desolate country, without a living creature, or even any 
vegetable substance; for which reason captain Davis named 
it, " The Land of Desolation." Perceiving that they were 
run into a very deep bay, wherein they were almost sur- 
rounded with ice, they kept coasting along the edge of it, 
south-south-west, till the 25th of July; when, after hav- 
ing gone fifty or sixty leagues, they found that the shore 
lay directly north. This made them alter their course to 
the north-west, in hopes of finding their desired passage : 
but on the 29ih they discovered land to the north-east, in 
64 degr. 15 min. latitude. Making towards it, they per- 
ceived that they were passed the ice, and were among 
many green, temperate, and pleasant islands, bordering 
upon the shore ; though the hills of the continent were still 
covered with great quantities of snow. Among these 
islailds were many fine bays, and good roads for shipping : 
they landed in some, and the people of the country came 
down and conversed with them by signs, making Mr. Davis 
understand, that there was a great sea towards the north 
■ '!'! west. He staid in this place till the first of August, 



DAVIS. 327 

and then proceeded in his discovery. Tlie sixth of that 
, montli, they found land in 66 degr. 40 min. hititude, quite 
free from ice; and anchored in a safe road, under a great 
mouiUaui, the cliffs whereof glistered like gold. This 
inouiitain lie named, Mount Raleigh : the road where their 
ships lay at anchor, Totness Road : the bay which encom- 
passed tlie niouuiain, Exeter Sound : the foreland towards 
the north, Dier's Cape : and the foreland towards the 
south, Cape \Valsingham. He departed from hence the 
eighth of August, coasting aiontj the shore, which lay 
souih-south-west, and east-north-east; and on the eleventh 
came to the most southerly cape of that land, which he 
named, " The Cape of God's Mercy," as being the place 
of their first entrance for the discovery. Going forward, 
they came into a very fine straight, or passage, in some 
places twenty leagues broad, in others thirty, quite free 
from ice, the weather in it very tolerable, and the water of 
the same colour and nature as the main ocean. This pas- 
sage still retains the name of its first discoverer, being 
called to this day Fretum Davis, or Davis's Straights. 
Having sailed, north-west, sixty leagues in this passage, 
they discovered several islands in the midst of it; on some 
of which they landed. The coast was very barren, with- 
out wood or grass ; and ihe rocks were like fine marble, 
full of veins of divers colours. Some days after they con- 
tinued searching for the north-west passage, but found 
only a great nundfer of islands. And, on the 20th, the 
wind coming contrary, they altered their course and de- 
sign, and returning for England, arrived at Dartmouth the 
29th of Sej)tember. 'I he next year Mr. Davis undertook 
a second voyage, for the farther discovery of the north-west 
passage, being supported and encouraged again by secre- 
tary Walsingh-am, and other adventurers. With a view 
therefore of searching the bottom of the Straights he had 
been in the year before, he sailed from Dartmouth, May 
the 7th, 1586, with four ships, and the 15ih of June dis- 
covered land in 60 degrees latitude, and 47 desrrees Ion- 
gitude west from London. The ice along the coast reached 
in some places ten, in some twenty, and in others fifty 
leagues into the sea; so that, to avoid it, they were forced 
to bear into 57 degrees latitude. After many tempestuous 
storms, they made the land again, June the 29th, in 64 
degrees of latitude, and 58 of longitude ; and ran among 
the temperate islands they had been at the year before. 



328 DAVIS. 

But the water was so deep, they could not easily come to 
an anchor ; yet they found means to go ashore, on some 
of the islands, where they were much caressed and wel- 
comed by the natives, wiio knew them again. Havings 
finished a pinnace, which was to serve them for a front in 
their discoveries, they landed, not only in that, but also 
in their boats, in several places : and, upon the strictest 
search, found the land not to be a continent, as they ima- 
gined, but a collection of huge, waste, and desert isles, 
with great sounds and inlets passing between sea and sea. 
They pursued their voyage the 11th of July, and on the 
17th, in 63 degrees 8 minutes latitude, met with a prodi- 
gious mass of ice, which they coasted till the 30th. This 
was a great obstacle and discouragement to them, not 
having tlie like there the year before ; and, besides, the 
men beginning to grow sickly, the crew of one of the 
ships, on which he chieHy depended, forsook him, and re- 
solved to proceed no farther. However, not to disappoint 
Mr. W. Sanderson, who was the chief adventurer in this 
voyage, and for fear of losing the favour of secretary Wal- 
singham, who had this discovery much at heart, Mr. Davis 
undertook to proceed alone in his small bark of thirty tons. 
Having therefore fitted, and well- victualled it, in a har- 
bour lying in 66 degrees 33 minutes latitude, and 70 de- 
grees longitude, which he found to be a very hot place, 
and full of muscatoes, he set sail the 12th of August, and 
coming into a straight followed the course of it for eighty 
leagues, till he came among many islands, where the water 
ebbed and flowed six fathom deep. He had hopes of find- 
ing a passage there, but upon searching farther in his 
boat, he perceived there was none. He then returned 
again into the open sea, and kept coasting southward as 
far as 54 degrees and a half of latitude : in which time he 
found another great inlet near forty leagues broad, between 
two lands, west, where the water ran in with great violence. 
This, he imagined, was the passage so long sought for ; 
l)ut the wind being then contrary, and two furious storms 
happening soon alter, he neither thought it safe nor wise 
to proceed farther, especially in one small bark, and when 
the season was so far advanced. He, therefore, sailed for 
England the 1 1th of September; and arrived there in the 
beginning of October. By the observations which he 
piade, he concluded, that the north parts of America are 
ftU islt^nda. He made a third voyage to these parts agair^ 



DAVIS. 329 

the year following, 1587. All the western merchants, and 
most of tliose of London, refused to be engaged farther in 
the undertaking; but it vvas encouraired by the lord trea- 
surer Burleigh and se retary Vv'ulsnigham. Mr. Davis 
having, in his last voyage, discovered prodigious quanti- 
ties of excellent cod-lish, in 56 degrees of latitude, two 
ships were sent along with bini for hslung, and one only 
for the discover) of the Nortli west passcige. They sailed 
from Dartmouth the 19th of Ma), and discovered laud the 
14th of June, at sixteen leagues distance, but very moun- 
tainous, and covered with snow. On the 21st of June the 
two barks left him, and went upon the fishing, after having 
promised him, not to depart till his return to them about 
the end of August, yet having finished their voyage in 
about sixteen days after, they set sail for England without 
any regard to their promise. Captain Davis, in the mean 
time, pursued his intended discovery, in the sea between 
America and Groenland, from 64 to 73 degrees of latitude. 
Having entered the Straights which bear his name, he 
went on northward, from the 21st to tlie 30th of June; 
naming one part Merchants Coast; another, the London 
Coast; anotlier, Hope Sanderson in 73 degrees latitude, 
being the farthest he went that day. The wind coming 
nortiierly, he altered his course, and ran forty leagues 
west, without seeing any land. On the 2d of July, he fell 
in with a great bank of ice, which he coasted southward 
till the 1 9th of July, when he came within sight of Mount 
Raleigh on the American coast, in about 67 degrees of 
latitude. Having sailed sixty leagues north-west into the 
gulf tiiat lies beyond it, he anchored, July 23, at the bot- 
tom of that gulf, among many islands, which he named 
*' The Earl of Cumberland's Isles " He quilted that place 
again the same day, and sailed back south-east, in order 
to recover the sea; which he did the 29th in 62 degrees of 
latitude. The 30th he passed by a great bank, or inlet, to 
which he gave the name of Lumley's Inlet ; and the next 
day by a head land, which he called " The Earl of War- 
wick's Foreland." On the first of August he fell in with 
the southermost cape, named by him Chudley's Cape: 
jind, the 12th, passed by an island which he named Darcy's 
Island. When he came in 52 degrees of latitude, not 
finding the two ships that had promised to stay for him, he 
.was in great distress, having but little wood, and only half 
,a hogshead of water left; yet, taking courage, he made 



330 . D A V I S. 

the best of his way home, and ari'ived at Dartmoutli Sep- 
teml)er the 15th, very sanguine, that the north-west pas- 
sage was most probable, and the execution easy ; but se- 
cretary W'alsinghanj dying not long after, all farther search 
was laid aside. Mr. Davis, notwithstanding, did not re- 
main idle. For, August 26, 1391, he was captain of the 
Desire, rear admiral to Mr. Thomas Cavendish, in his se- 
cond unfortunate expedition to the South -Sea; and is 
highly blamed by Mr. Cavendish, for having deserted him, 
and thereby being the cause of his overthrow. After many 
disasters, Mr. Davis arrived asrain at Bear-haven in Ire- 
land, June 11, 1593. He performed afterwards no less 
than five voyages to the East-Indies, in the station of a 
pilot. One was in a Dutch ship, in which he set out, 
March 13, 1597-8, from Flushing, and returned to Mid- 
dleburgb, July 23, 1600, Of the rest we have no account, 
except of that which he performed with sir Edward Michel- 
bourne, in which were spent nineteen months, from De- 
cember 5, 1604, to Jnly 9, 1606. During this voyage 
Mr. Davis was killed, on the 27th of December, 1605, in 
a desperate fight with some Japonese near the coast of 
Malacca. He married Faith, daughter of sir John Fulford, 
of Fulford in Devonshire, knight, by Dorothy his wife, 
daughter of John lord Bouchier, earl of Bath, by whom 
probubly he had issue : for some of his posterity are said to 
have been living about the middle of the last century, at 
or near Deptford. 

*' The account of his second voyage for the Discovery 
of the North-west Passage, in 1586," seems to be of bis 
composition ; for he speaks always in the first person. 
There are likewise in print two letters of his to Mr. San- 
derson, one dated from Exeter, October 14, 1586 ; and 
the other from Sandridge, September 16, 1587. Hakluyt 
has also preserved " A Traverse Booke made by M. John 
Davis, in his third voyage for the discoverie of the North- ' 
west Passage, aimo 15 87," and it appears that he com- 
posed a treatise entitled " The World's Hydrographicall 
Description," for Hakluyt has extracted from it, and 
published, " A report of Master John Davis, of his three 
voyages made for the Discovery of the North-west Passage." 
His voyage to the East Indies in a Dutch ship, in 1 598, was 
written al;50 by himself. It is said that " There is a Rut- 
ter, [Iloutier] or Brief Directions for sailing into the East 
Indies, digested nito a plain method by this same person. 



DAVIS. .331 

John Davis, of Limehouse, (as he is there called) written 
upon experiment of his five voyages thither, and home 
again." But either it was not written hy the same John 
Davis, who is the suhject of this article, or else our John 
Davis was not killed in the East Indies, as we have said 
above upon the authority of Purchas, and of those that 
have copied from him. 

In tne Index to the first edition of the Biographia, it 
is observed, that there is a defect in tlie article of John 
Davis, :is it has not mentioned his quadrant for finding out 
the latitude at sea. Concerning his main object, how- 
ever, the attempt for the discovery of a northern passage 
to India, much may be foun;:! in captain Cook's Voyages, 
particuhu'ly the introduction to his last voyage.' 

DAVl.s, or DAViES (John), of Hereford, as he usually 
styled himself, a poet and sclioolmasier, was born in that 
city, and sent when young from a grammar-school there, 
to the university of ()xford ; but Wood has not discovered 
in what college he studied, nor does it appear that he took 
any degree. After leaving the university, he returned to 
his native place, where he olitained the character of a 
poet, and published several productions of the rhyming 
kind ; but not finding, as it would indeed have been won- 
derful if he had found, much profit accrue, he set up a 
writing-school, first at Hereford, and afterwards in London, 
where he at length acquired the character of one of the 
first penmen in England. In 1611 we find him living in 
Fleet-street, and a Roman catholic. From Peck's De- 
siderata it appears that Arthur Wilson was one of his 
pupils, and that the conversation of Davis and his family 
inspired him with some doubts of the religious kind. From 
his poems we learn that Davis ,left a brother, James, at 
Oxford, who was also a writing-master ; and that he himself 
married a wife whose name was Croft, by whom, he says, he 
had a " crop of care," meaning, proiiably, a large family. 
As a writing-master, he published some engraved books of 
instruction, or specimens, but Wassey hds seen only " The 
Writing School- master, or Anatomy of Fair Writing," en- 
graved, after his death, by Ingheenram, which he thinks 
does not support the high character given of his penman- 
ship by his contemporaries. It is said he was some time 
tutor to prince Henry, who, according to Birch, wrote a 

J Biog. Brit, — Prince's Worthies of Devon. 



332 DAVIS. 

very fine hand. He died about 1618, and, Fuller informs 
us, was buried in the church or church-yard ol" St. Giles's 
in the Fields. 

His poetical works are numerous, but discover very little 
taste or talent : 1. " St. Peter's Complaint, witli other 
Poems," Loud. 1595, 4to. 2. " Mirum in modo ; a glimpse 
of God's glory, and the soul's shape," ibid. 1602, and 1616, 
8vo. 3. " IViicrocosmus, or the Discovery of the Little 
World," Oxon. 1603, 4to. 4. " The Holy Rood of 
Christ's Cliurch," Lond. 1609, 4io, with Sonnets. 5. 
" Humours Heaven and Earth, with the civil wars of 
Death and Fortune," ibid. 1609, 8vo. 6. " Wit's Pil- 
grimage," Lond. 4to, no date. 7. " Muse's Sacrifice, or 
Divine Meditations," ibid. 1612, 12mo. 8. " The Muse's 
Tears for the loss of their hope, the heroic and never too 
much praised Henry, prince of Wales," ibid. 1613, 4to, 
&c. &c. &c. Four of these volumes are noticed m the 
Censura Literariii, one in Beloe's Anecdotes, and one in 
the British Bibliographer, by Mr. Haslewood, whose cha- 
racter of Davis's poetry may be adopted with confidence. 
" Davis's poetical attempts are generally heavy, dull, ob- 
scure, and inharmonious ; and his pages are remarkable 
for inconsistency. One while he is potnnng forth celestial 
rhapsodies, and then ' with jerkes of wit (as iie terms them) 
to whip every vice,' blundering on expressions too gross 
for pen or press, while the reader, who may have been 
edified by his morality, is left to fill up the blank of a dis- 
gusting parenthesis. His witticisms are often feeble puns, 
double entendres, and occasionally have their point de- 
pending on a fabricated name. Yet though the whole of 
his pieces now class as rare, from their number it seems 
presumable they were not ill received. To us moderns, 
however, there seldom appears poignancy in his wit, or 
nerve in his poetry." ' 

DAVIS (Rowland), an Irish divine, was born near Cork, 
in 1649, and educated at Trinity-college, Dublin, where 
he took his decrree of LL. D. andvvas accounted an enii- 
nent civilian. Having entered into holy orders, he was 
promoted to be dean of Cork, and was afterwards vicar- 
general of the diocese, both which preferments he retained 
until his death ni 1721. He wrote, " A Letter to a friend 

' Atli. Ox. vol. I. — Miissey's Origin and Progress of Letters. — Censura Lite- 
raria, vol. L IL and V.— liiblicgiaphcr, vol. II. ■247. — Warton's Hist, of 
Poetry, vol. IV. p. 15, 56, 87 Whalley's Ben Jonson, vol. VI. p. 230. 



DAVIS. 333 

concerning his changing his religion," Lond. 1694, 4to. 
This friend was a Mr. Turner, recorder of Limerick, wlio 
had become a Roman catholic. Dr. Davis published also, 
" Tiie truly Catholick and Old Religion, shewing that the 
established church in Ireland is more truly a member of 
the catholic church, than the church of Rome, and that 
all the ancient Christians, especially in Great Britain and 
Ireland, were of her communion," Dublin, 1716, 4to. 
This was answered the same year by I'imothy O'Brien, 
D. D. of Toulouse, a native of Cork, and then parish 
priest of Castlelions, in a pamphlet printed at Cork, anony- 
mously, to which Dr. Davis replied in " A Letter to the 
pretended Answer, &c." O'Brien returned to the charge 
with " Goliath beheaded with his own sword," 4to, to 
which Dr. Davis replied in " Remarks on a pamphlet en- 
titled Goliath, &c." He also published two occasional 
sermons, one on the 30th of January, entitled " Christian 
Loyalty," 1716, 4to ; the other a charity sermon, Dublin, 
17 17, 8vo.' 

DAVISON (William), a very eminent statesman, and 
secretary of state in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was, if not 
a native of Scotland, at least descended from those who were, 
as himself professed to sir James Melvile. At what time he 
came into the court of queen Elizabeth, or in what state, is 
uncertain. It is most probable, that his parts and learning, to- 
gether with that extraordinary diligence and wonderful ad- 
dress for which he was always distinguished, recommended 
him to Mr. Killigrew, afterwards sir Henry Kiiligrew, with 
whom he went in quality of secretary, at the time he was sent 
into Scotland, to compliment queen Mary upon the birth of 
her son. This was in 1566, and there is a good reason to be- 
lieve that he remained from that time about the court, and was 
employed in several affairs of great consequence. In 1575, 
when the states of Brabant and Flanders assumed to them- 
selves the administration of all affairs till his catholic ma- 
jesty should appoint a new governor of the Low Countries, 
Mr. Davison was sent over with a public character from 
the queen to those states, under the plausible pretence of 
exhorting them to continue in their obedience to his ca- 
tholic majesty ; but, in reality, to see how things actuall}' 
stood in that part of the world, that her majesty might be 
the better able to know how to proceed in respect to the 

* Moreri.— Sir James Ware's Works by Harris, vol. U, 



334 DAVISON. 

several applications made to her from the prince of Orange^ 
and the people of Holland. He executed this commission 
very successfully, and therefore the queen sent him over 
as her minister, to pacify the troubles that had arisen at 
Ghent ; and when his presence was no longer necessary 
there, he was commissioned on her behalf to the States of 
Holland, in 1579. His con'duct tliere gave equal satisfac- 
tion to the queen his mistress, and to those with whom he 
negotiated. He gave them great hopes of the queen's as- 
sistance and support, and when a sum of money was de- 
sired, as absolutely necessary towards providing for their 
defence, he very readily undertook to procure it upon 
reasonable security ; in consequence of which, a very con- 
siderable sum was sent from England, for which all the 
valuable jewels and fine plate that had been pledged by 
Matthias of Austria to the States of Holland, and which 
were the remains of the magnificence of the house of Bur- 
gundy, were transported to England. These journies, 
and the success attending them, gave Mr. Davison great 
reputation at court, insomuch, that in all matters of a nice 
and difficult nature, Davison was some way or other con- 
tinually employed. Thus in 1583, when matters wore a 
serious aspect in Scotland, he was sent thither as the 
queen's ambassador, in order to counteract the French 
ministers, and to engage the king of Scots and the people, 
both to slight the offers made them from that country, and 
to depend wholly upon assistance from England. Affairs 
in the Low Countries coming at last to a crisis, and the 
states resolving to depend n|jon queen Elizabeth, in the 
bold design they had formed of defending their freedom 
b}- force of arms, and rendering themsehes independent, 
Mr. Davison, at this time clerk of the privy council, was 
chosen to manage this delicate business, and to conclude 
with them that alliance which was to be the basis of their 
future undertakings. In this, which, without question, 
was one of the most perplexed transactions in that whole 
reign, he conducted things with such a happy dexterity, 
as to merit the strongest acknowledgments on the part of 
the States, at the same time that he rendered the highest 
service to the queen his mistress, and obtained ample se- 
curity for those expences which that princess thought 
necessary in order to keep danger at a distance, and to en- 
courage the flames of war in the dominions of her enemy, 
whom at that juncture she knew to be meditating how he 



DAVISON. 335 

might transfer them into her own. Upon the return of 
Mr. Davison into England, alter the conclusion ol' this 
treat}-, he was declared of the jjrivy-councii, and appointed 
one of her majesty's principal secretaries of state, in con- 
junction with sir Francis Walsingham ; so that, at this 
time, these offices may be affirmed to have been as well 
filled as in any period that can be assigned in our history, 
and yet by persons of very different, or rather opposite 
dispositions ; for Walsingham was a man of great art and 
intrigue, one who was not displeased that he was thought 
such a person, and whose capacity was still deeper than 
'those who understood it best apprehended it to be. Da- 
vison, on the other hand, had a just reputation for wisdom 
and probity ; and, though he had been concerned in many 
intricate affairs, yet he preserved a character so unspotted, 
that, to the time he came into this office, he had done no- 
thing that could draw upon him the least imputation. It 
is an opinion countenanced by Camden, and which has 
met with general acceptance, that he was raised in order 
to be ruined, and that, when he was made secretary of 
state, there was a view of obliirins,- him to «o out of his 
depth in that matter, which brought upon him all his mis- 
fortunes. This conjecture is very plausible, and yet there 
is good reason to doubt whether it is well founded. Mr. 
Davison had attached himself, during the progress of his for- 
tunes, to the potent earl of Leicester ; and it was chiefly to 
his favour and interest that he stood indebted for this hi"]i 
employment, in which, if he was deceived by another great 
statesman, it could not be said that he was raised and 
, ruined by the same hands. But there is nothing more pro- 
bable than that the bringing about such an event by an 
instrument which his rival had raised, and then removing 
him, and rendering his parts useless to those who had 
raised him, gave a double satisfaction to him who managed 
this design. It is an object of great curiosity to trace the 
principal steps of this transaction, which was, without 
doubt, one of the finest strokes of political management in 
that whole reign. , When the resolution was taken, in the 
beginning of October 1586, to bring the queen of Scots 
to a trial, and a commission was issued for that purpose, 
secretary Davison's name was inserted in that commission ; 
but it does not appear that he was present when that com- 
mission was opened at Fotheringay castle, on the llth of 
October, or that he ever assisted there at all. Indeed, 



336 DAVISON. 

the management of that transaction was very wisely left in 
the hands of those who with so much address had con- 
ducted the antecedent business for the conviction of An- 
thony Babingtoii, and his accomphces, upon the truth and 
justice of wliich, the proceedings against the queen of 
Scots entirely depended. On the 25th of October the 
sentence was declared in the star-chamber, things pro- 
ceeding still in the same channel, and nothing particularly 
done by secretary Davison. On the 29th oi the same 
month the parliament met, in which Serjeant Puckering 
was speaker of the house of commons ; and, upon an ap- 
plication from both houses, queen Elizabeth caused the 
sentence to be published, which, soon after, was notified 
to the queen of Scots; yet hitherto all was transacted by 
the other secretary, who was considered by the nation in 
general as the person who had led this prosecution from 
bescinninor to end. The true meaning of this long and so- 
lemn proceeding was certainly to remove, as far as pos- 
sible, any reflection upon queen Elizabeth ; and, that it 
might appear in the most conspicuous manner to the world, 
that she was urged, and even constrained to take the life 
of the queen of Scots, instead of seeking or desiring it. 
This assertion is not founded upon conjecture, but is a 
direct matter of fact ; for, in her first answer to the par- 
liament, given at Richmond the 12th of November, she 
complained that the late act had brought her into a great 
strait, by obliging her to give directions for that queen's 
death ; and upon the second application, on the 24th of 
the same month, the queen enters largely into the conse- 
quences that must naturally follow upon her taking that 
step, and on the consideration of them, grounds her re- 
turning no definitive resolution, even to this second appli- 
cation. The delay which followed after the jjublication 
of the sentence, gave an opportunity for the French king, 
and several other princes, to interpose, but more especially 
to king James, whose ambassadors, and particularly sir 
Robert Melvile, pressed the queen very hard. Camden 
says, that his ambassadors unseasonably mixing threaten- 
ings with intreaties, they were not very uelcome ; so that 
after a few days the ambassadors were dismissed, with 
small hopes of succeeding. But we are elsewhere told, 
that, when Melvile requested a respite of execution for 
eight days, she answered, *' Not an hour." This seemed 
to be a plain declaration of her majesty's final determma- 



DAVISON. 33^ 

tion, and such in all probability it was, so that her death 
being resolved, the only point that remained under debate 
was, how she should die, that is, whether by the hand of 
an executioner, or otherwise. In respect to this, the two 
secretaries seem to have been of different sentiments. Mr. 
Davison thought the forms of justice should go on, and 
the end of this melancholy transaction correspond with the 
rest of the proceedings. Upon this, sir Francis Walsing- 
ham pretended sickness, and did not come to court, and 
by this means the whole business of drawing and bringing 
the warrant to the queen to sign, fell upon Davison, who, 
pursuant to the queen's directions, went through it in the 
manner that Camden has related. But it is very remark- 
able, that, wliile these judicial steps were taking, the other 
method, to which the queen herself seemed to incline, 
proceeded also, and secretary Walsingham, notwithstanding 
his sickness, wrote the very day the warrant was signed^ 
which was Wednesday, February 1st, 1586-7, to sir Aniias 
Pawlet and sir Drew Drury, to put them in mind of the 
association, as a thing that might countenance, at least, 
if not justify, this other way of removing the queen of 
Scots. It is tru&, that Mr. Davison subscribed this letter, 
and wrote another to the same persons two days after ; but 
it appears plainly from the answer, that the keepers of 
the queen of Scots considered the motion as coming from 
Walsingham. The warrant beinsf delivered to the lords 
of the council, they sent it down by Mr. Beale, their clerk, 
a man of sour and stubborn temper, and who had always 
shewn a great bitterness against the queen of Scots. The 
day of his departure does not appear; but queen Mary 
had notice given her on the Monday, to prepare for deatli 
on the Wednesday, which she accordingly suffered. As 
soon as queen Elizabeth was informed of it, she expressed 
great resentment against her council, forbad them her pre- 
sence and the court ; and caused some of them to be 
examined, as if she intended to call them to an account 
for the share they had in this transaction. We are not 
told particularly who these counsellors were, excepting the 
lord treasurer Burleigh, who fell into a temporary dis- 
grace about it, and was actually a witness against Mr. Da- 
vison. As for the earl of Leicester and secretary VV'alsing;- 
ham, they had prudently withdrawn themselves at the last 
act of the tragedy, and took care to publish so much, by 
Vol. XI. Z 



35S DAVISON. 

their letters into Scotland j but secretary Davison, upon whom 
it was resolved the whole weight of this business should fall, 
was deprived of his office, and sent prisoner to the Tower, at 
which nobody seenjs to have been so much alarmed as the lord 
treasurer, who, though himself at that time in disgrace, wrote 
to the queen in strong terms, and once intended to have 
written in much stronger. This application had no effect, 
for the queen having sent her kinsman Mr. Gary, son to the 
lord Ilunsdon, into Scotland, to excuse the matter to king 
James, charged with a letter to him under her own hand, in 
which she in the strongest terms possible asserted her own 
innocence, there was a necessity of doing something that 
iTiioht carry an air of evidence, in support of the turn she 
had now given to the death of that princess. On the 28th 
of March .following, Davison, after having undergone va- 
rious examinations, was brought to his trial in the star 
chamber, for the contempt of which he had been guilty, 
in revealing the queen's counsels to her privy counsellors, 
and performing what he understood to be the duty of his 
office in quality of her secretary. We have several ac- 
counts of this trial, which, in a variety of circumstances, 
differ from each other. In this, however, they all agree, 
that the judges, who fined him ten thousand marks, and 
imprisonment during the queen's pleasure, gave him a very 
high character, and declared him to be, in their opinions, 
both an able and an honest man. One thing is very remark- 
able, that, in the conclusion of this business, sir Christo- 
pher Wray, chief justice of the queen's bench, told the 
court, that though the queen had been offended with her 
council, and had left them to examination, yet now she 
for<i-ave them, being satisfied that they were misled by this 
man's suggestions. Sir James Melvile, who wrote at that 
time, and who seems to have had some prejudice against 
Davison, said very candidly and fairly upon this occasion, 
that he was deceived by the council. As soon as the pro- 
ceeding was over, the queen, to put it out of doubt with 
the king of Scots, that his mother was put to death with- 
out her privity or intention, sent him the judgment given 
against Davison, subscribed by those who had given it, and 
exemplified under the great seal, together with another 
instrument, under the hands of all the judges of England, 
that the sentence against his mother could not in the least 
prejudice his title to the succession. As for Mr. Davison, 
novv left to a strange reward for his past services, a long 



DAVISON. 3«9 

imprisonment, which reduced him to indigence, he com- 
forted himself with the thoughts of his innocence; and, to 
secure his memory from being blasted by that judgment 
which had withered his fortune, he had long before written 
an apology for his own conduct, which he addressed to 
secretary Walsinghain, as the man most interested in it, 
and who could best testify whether what he affirmed was 
truth or not. In this he gave a very clear and natural de- 
tail of the transaction which cost him all his sufferings. It 
is allowed by all who have written on this subject, and 
especially by Camden, that he was a very unhappy, though 
at the same time a very capable and honest man. As 
such we have seen him recommended to queen Elizabeth 
by the treasurer Burleigh, and as such he was strongly 
recommended by the earl of Essex to king James I. It 
seems, that noble person stuck fast by him under his mis- 
fortunes, which plainly shews the party to which he had 
always adhered. That lord lost no opportunity of soliciting 
the queen in his favour, and never let slip any occasion of 
testifying for him the warmest and the sincerest afl^ection. At 
length. It seems he was not altogether unsuccessful ; for 
though, upon the death of secretary Walsingham, the 
queen absolutely rejected his motion, that Mr. Davisoa 
should come into his place, yet, afterwards, it seems that 
she yielded in some degree, as plainly appears by the earl's 
letter to king James. That we are under an incapacity of 
tracing him farther, is owing to the profound silence of the 
writers of those times. 

Davison came not suddenly or surprisingly into his high 
office, but easily, naturally, and gratlually, in the very- 
same way that his predecessors, Cecil, Smith, and Wal- 
singham had done, and with the general approbation of all 
the council ; and, as he was no mean or obscure person 
when called to that high employment, so he was not given 
to subserviency, at the peril of his life and reputation ; 
and notwithstanding the star chamber sentence, he very 
well knew how to make his innocence plain, both to that 
age and to posterity. 

Mr. W'hitaker, in his elaborate work entitled " Mary 
queen of Scots vindicated," has not forgotten Eli2abeth's 
conduct with regard to Davison. In the first edition he 
took proper notice of it, and gave a general account of toe 
unfortunate secretary's apologv. But in the second edi- 
tion he has inserted the apology at large, and accompg-nied 

Z 2 



340 DAVISON. 

it with a number of notes that strongly display the unjust 
and cruel manner in which Davison was treated by hi» 
royal mistress. The pointed observations of Mr. Whita- 
ker's concluding note afford such a correct view of his 
character, as, although somewhat different from the pre- 
ceding in the Biographia Britannica, is probably nearer 
the truth. 

" Let me here, at the end of the apology, remark 
finally concerning Davison, that, though he was not an 
honest man, yet he was so nearly one, as to be a very 
prodigy for the ministry of Elizabeth. He refused, it ap- 
pears, to sign that very bond of association which was 
signed by all the nation, and which even the despairing 
Mary offered, on her liberty being granted, to sigi> hex"- 
self. Yet he refused, though Leicester pushed on the as- 
sociation, and though Elizabeth urged him to sign it. 
Among the pleas which he advances for himself in his other 
apology, he particularly states ' his former absolute re- 
fusal to sign the band of association, being earnestly 
pressed thereunto by her majesty's self,' (Robertson, 11. 
483). This indeed is a very strong evidence of a manly 
virtuousness in him. But he did other things in the same 
spirit of virtue. He declined to act as a commis- 
sioner on the examination of Babington and his accomplices 
for their conspiracy in favour of Mary, and took a journey 
to Bath, in order to save himself from acting, (Robertson, 
IL 483). He was a means, too, of preventing the com- 
missioners who were sent to try Mary at Fotheringay castle, 
from pronouncing sentence upon her immediately after 
the trial, and of obliging them to return first to London, 
and report their proceedings to Elizabeth, (Robertson, H. 
483). We have already seen that he kept the warrant 
for the execution of Mary five or six weeks in his hands, 
without offering to present it to Elizabeth for her signing. 
We have equally seen that he actually neglected to obey a 
personal command of Elizabeth's for bringing the warrant 
to her, and that he thus neglected for ' many days,' even 
till the queen fired at his conduct, and sent him a peremp- 
tory order to bring it. Even then, and even when Paulet's 
answer had been received, and all delay was now at an end 
for ever, he would not be concerned in sending away the 
warrant himself, but returned it into the hands from which 
he had received it, and left Cecil and the council to send 
it. And, as in all the time ' before her trial, he neitlj^er 



DAVISON. 341 

is nor can be charged, to have had any hand at all in the 
cause of the said queen, or done any thing whatsoever 
concerning the same, directly or indirectly,' so, * after 
the return thence of the commissioners, it is well known 
to all her council, that he never was at any deliberation 
or meeting whatsoever, in parliament or council, con- 
cerning the cause of the said queen, till the sending down 
of her majesty's warrant unto tlie conmiissioners by the 
lords and oineis of her council,' (Robertson, II. 481). 

" These deeds of honesty, no doubt, had successively 
marked him out for veng'. ance to the rest of the ministry, 
and to the queen. He was therefore selected by Cecil, 
* with her majesty's own privity,' to be the secretary with 
whom the warrant should be lodged for signing, (Robert* 
son, II. 481). He was thus exposed to a train of decisive 
trials. It would be seen whether he offered to present the 
warrant to Elizabeth for her signature. Should he not 
offer, a command might be given him by Elizabeth to 
bring it up. Should he hesitate to obey this, a sharp re- 
buke and a peremptory order might be sent him. If he 
was refractory in all these points, then the wrath of Eliza- 
beth would burst out upon him, and sweep him away from 
her presence for ever. If he complied in any, his farther 
compliance might be tried in ordering him to the great 
seal with the warrant, and in directing him to use the war- 
rant, when sealed, with secresy. Should he be found 
pliable in this trial, the grand scheme of assassination, tho 
favourite wish of Elizabeth's heart, which had repeatedly- 
been talked over by her other ministers before Elizabeth 
and him, which they all united to approve, though none 
of them offered to undertake, and winch had been so talked 
over and so approved of, merely to put Davison upon un- 
dertaking it, might finally be urged upon Davison in pri^ 
vate by Elizabeth herself. Should he bend to this urgency, 
and engage in the work of assassination, Elizabeth, as 
soon as ever the work was done, would have risen upon 
him with an affected })assiQn, and made his life the forfeit 
of his compliance. And should he not bend, all his pre- 
sent, and all his former refractoriness would be remem- 
bered at once aijainst him, and unite to draw down the 
rage of Elizabeth in a storm of real resentment upon him. 
Either way the man was sure to be ruined. He complied, 
though only in part. He brought up the warrant at tho 
second order. He carried it to the great seal. He eveu 



343 DAVISON, 

united with Walsingham to mention Elizabeth's proposal 
of assassination to Paulet ; but he would go no farther. 
He actually protested to Elizabeth herself against the pro- 
posal before he mentioned it to Paulet. He protested to 
her against every scheme of assassination. And he was 
therefore ruined at last by Elizabeth, in a most impudent 
stretch of falsehood, for doing what he did not do, and 
in truth and reality, for not doing what he was wanted 
to do." 

<* Thus fell Davison, a memorable evidence of the cun- 
ning, the perfidiousness, and the barbarity of Elizabeth 
and her Cecil ! But he was fully revenged of them both 
in his fall. He wrote the present apology, which serves 
so greatly to expose the characters of both. It is very 
convincing in itself; is even drawn up with the air and 
address of a fine writer, and is peculiarly valuable to the 
critical investigators of Elizabeth's conduct. It differs 
very psetully from that in Dr. Robertson's Appendix, in 
being written within the very month of all the main trans- 
actions recorded in it, and being therefore very full, cir- 
cumstantial, and accurate ; while that was written many 
years afterward, is only general and short, and is often in-^ 
accurc^te. It was not, however, as Camden says, a ' pri- 
vate' apology sent to * Walsingham,' (Orig. i. 465. 
Trans. 39-2). It was evidently calculated, as I have shown 
before, for the inspection of Elizabeth herself. And, as 
it would nfiturally be sent to his brother-secretary for her 
inspection, so was it a bold challenge to her for the truth 
and exactness of all his averments, and would serve only 
to increase the load already descending to crush him. The 
other was written, not only when the little particulars had 
faded off from the mind, when memory had confounded 
some circumstances that were distinct in themselves, and 
9, regular narrative, if it could have been given, was no 
Jonger of consequence ; but, what is very surprizing, when 
Davison had lost all copy, and even all minutes of this 
very apology. It w^s drawn up, too, when he was no 
Jonger afraid of showing his forbearance in the cause of 
Mary, and indeed had reason for displaying it all at large. 
He therefore goes back much farther in the second apology 
than in the first, to the return of Mary's judges from Fo- 
theringay, to the moment of her trial, to the examination 
of Babuigton, &c. and to the times preceding all. In this 
whole period he shows ws his secret attachment \q Mary, 



DAVISON. 343 

by such a train of incidents as seems peculiarly calculated 
for the eye of Mary's son on his accession to the throne of 
England. Yet Elizabeth must have been alive at the 
writing of it, since she is sjjoken of as still queen ; and I 
therefore suppose it to be written at the latter end of Eli- 
zabeth's reigii, when all tne nation began to turn their 
eyes towards Scotland for a successor to her ; and when 
Davison would naturally endeavour to make tliat attach- 
ment to Mary, for which he had suffered so severely from 
Elizabetb, promote his interest with James." 

Francis, the secretary's son, pubhshed a poetical mis- 
cellany in 1602, uudtr the title of a "Poetical Rapsodie," 
containing small pieces by the compiler himself, and by 
some friends. A second edition of this appeared in 1608, 
a third in 1611, and a fourth in 162 I. Mr. Ellis has ex- 
tracted some of these pieces in his " Specimens," vol. III.* 

DAUBEMTON (Louis John Maria), an eminent French 
naturalist, was born at Montbar in the department of the 
Cote D'Or, May 29, 1716. His father, John Daubenton, 
was a notary in that place, and his mother's name was 
Mary Pichenot. In his youth he distinguished himself by 
the sweetness of his temper, and by a diligent application 
to his studies. The Jesuits of Dijon, under whose tuition 
he was first placed, noticed him in a peculiar manner. 
Having gone through the philosophical course taught by 
the Dominicans of Dijon, his father, who destined him for 
the church, and who had made him assume the ecclesias- 
tical dress at the age of twelve, sent him to Paris to study 
theology, but his predilection for natural history induced 
him privately to study medicine. Accordingly he attended 
the lectures of Baron, Martiney, and Col de Vi liars, and 
likewise those of VVinslow, Hunault, and Anthony Jussieu, 
in the botanic garden. The death of his father, which 
happened in 1736, leaving him at liberty to pursue the 
bent of his own inclinations, he took his degrees at Rheims 
in 1740 and 1741, after which he returned to his native 
province, where, doubtless, his ambition would have been 
for ever confined to the practice of medicine, had not a 
happy accident brought him upon a more brilliant theatre. 

Montbar had given birth, about the same time, to the 
celebrated Buffon, a man of a very different character; 
who, though possessed of an independent fortune, a 

» Biog. Brit. &c. 



344 DAUBENTON. 

robust constitution, and actuated by a violent passion for 
pleasure, had determined lo devote himself to the cultivation 
of the sciences ; and of those, at length to give the pre- 
ference to natural history, which he saw in its infancy and 
rudf slate, and very justly conceived that every thing must 
be collected, revised, and examined. Perceiving, how- 
ever, that liis ardent and lively imagination rendered him 
unequal to such laborious and difficult researches, and even 
that the weakness of his sight excluded the hope of suc- 
ceeding in them, he endeavoured to discover a mari, who, 
besides a sound judgment, and a certain quickness of per- 
ception, should possess sufficient modesty and devotedness 
to induce him to rest satisfied with acting, in appearance, 
a subordinate part, and to serve him, as it were, as a hand 
and an eye in the prosecution of his undertaking. Such a 
man he at last found in Daubenton, the companion of his 
early years. The character, however, of these two philo- 
sophers was almost opposite in every respect. Buffon was 
violent, impatient, rash : Daubenton was all gentleness, 
patience, and caution : Buffon wished to divine the truth 
rather than to discover it: Daubenton believed nothing 
which he had not himself seen and ascertained : Buffba 
suffered his imagination to lead him from nature ; Dauben- 
ton, on the contrary, discarded from his writings every 
expression which was calculated to mislead. They were 
thus happily fitted to correct each other's faults. Accord- 
ingly, the History of Quadrupeds, which appeared while 
they laboured together, is the most exempt from error of 
any of the divisions which constitute Buffon's Natural 
History, 

About 1742 Buffon drew him to Paris. At that time, 
the office of keeper and demonstrator of the cabinet of 
natural history was in a great measure nominal, and as 
Koguez, who possessed that title, had been long absent, 
his place w^s occasionally supplied by any one present. 
By the influence of Buffon, this office was revived, and 
conferred on Daubenton in 1745. His salary, which at 
first did not exceed 500 francs, was, by degrees, after- 
wards augmented to 2000, or, as some say, 4000. While 
he Wfis only an assistant in the academy of sciences, Buf- 
fon, who dieted as its treasurer, conferred upon him several 
favours. On his arrival at Paris he procured him a lodg- 
ing, and neglected nothing in order to secure to him ease 
^nd independence j while Daubenton pursued with inde- 



DAUBENTON. 345 

fetigablc industry those labours which were necessary to 
second the views of his benelactor, and established by tliis 
means the two principal monuments of his own glory. 

One of these is the cabinet of natural history in the 
botanical garJen. That before his time served merely as 
a repository for the products of the diHferent pharmaceuti- 
cal operations, performed during the public lectures on 
chemistry, in order that they might be distributed to the 
poor while suffering under disease. It contained nothing 
appertaining to natural history, strictly so called, except a 
collection of shells made by I'ournefort, which had after- 
wards been employed to amuse Lewis XV. during his in- 
fancy; but such was the industry of Daubenton, that, 
within a few years, he collected specimens of minerals, 
fruits, woods, shells, from every quarter, and methodically 
arranged them. By applying himself to ascertain, or to 
improve the operations necessary to preserve the different 
parts of organized bodies, he succeeded in giving to the 
inanimate forms of quadrnpeds and birds the appearance 
of real life ; and presented to the naturalist the most mi- 
nute circumstances of their characters, while at the same 
time he no less gratified the virtuosi by exhibiting them in 
their natural forms and colours. 

Availing himself of the patronage of Buffon, and of his 
influence with the government, Daubenton soon formed 
and executed a very extensive plan : he conceived that all 
the productions of nature should tind a place in the temple 
he had consecrated to her; he was fully aware that those 
objects which are regarded as the most important, could 
only be thoroughly known by a comparison of them with 
others ; and that there existed no one that had not a greater 
or less affinity with the rest of nature. Impressed with this 
view of the subject, he made the most unremitting efforts 
to render his collection complete ; whilst at the same time 
he bestowed the greatest attention on the formation of 
those anatomical jireparations which for a long time distin- 
guished the cabinet of Paris, and which, however disa- 
greeable they may be to the common eye, are not the le.«;$ 
useful to those who wish to penetrate beyond the move 
suri"ace of oro-anized beings, and who endeavour to render 
natural history a philosophical science, by illustrating the 
phenomena it exhibits. 

The study and arrangement of these productions en- 
grossed his whole attention, and seemed to constitute the 



346 D A U B E N T O N. 

only passion he ever experienced. Shut up for whole days 
in the cabinet, he incessantly occupied himself in chano-iiio- 
the disposition of the objects he had accumulated, till by a 
scrupulous investigation of their several parts, and attempt- 
ing every possible method, he fell upon that arrangement 
which was equally consonant to true taste and accurate 
science. This passion for arrangement was again revived 
in full force during his latter years ; when, in consequence 
of victories obtained by the republican arms, there was 
brought to the museum a fresh store of natural curiosities, 
and when circumstances permitted him to give to the whole 
a more complete illustration. At eighty-four years of age, 
when he stooped much, and both his hands and feet had 
suffered greatly from the gout, not being able to walk 
without assistance, he was conducted by two persons tvery 
morning to the cat)inet, in order to superintend the ar- 
rangement of the minerals, the only department allotted to 
him according to ihe new organization of the establishment. 
The second monument that Daubenton has left behind 
him, and which must ever perpetuate his name, is his 
Description of Quadrupeds. It must, however, afford a 
subject of regret to every lover of science, that some cir- 
cumstances prevented him from extending, as was his ori- 
ginal intention, that description to all the productions con- 
tained in the cabinet of natural history. It is not now our 
business to analyze the descriptive part of the Natural His- 
tory, a work as immense in its details as astonishing in the 
boldness of the plan, nor to characterize the new and im- 
portant improvements introduced by him into this depart- 
ment of science. It may be sufficient, in order to convey 
some idea of the immensity of that work, to observe, that 
it comprehends not only the external characters, but the 
internal description of one hundred and eightj-two species 
of quadrupeds, of which fifty-eight had never been dis- 
sected, and thirteen were absolutely non-descripts. It 
contains, moreover, the external description of twenty-six 
species, five of which were wholly unknown. The number 
of new species there described by him is eighteen ; but the 
pew and interesting facts which he has brought forward 
respecting those species of which we had only before a very 
superficial knowledge, are extremely numerous. The 
greatest merit of the work, however, consists in the order 
snd disposition with which all the species are described. It 
delighted the author to repeat, that he was the first who had 



D A U B E N T O N. 347 

established an accurate system of comparative anatomy ; the 
truth of which must certainly be aclinitted, in this sense, that 
as all his observations were conducted upon one uniform 
plan, and equally extended to every animal, it is extremely 
easy to comprehend their reciprocal relations ; that, as he 
was never biassed by any preconceived liypotiiesis, he has 
bestowed an equal attention upon every part, and in no 
instance ever oiriitted or concealed what could not be re- 
conciled to his own system. Tins work of Daubenton may 
be considered as a rich mine, which all who devote them- 
selves to similar pursuits, find it necessary to explore, and 
of which many have profited without due acknowledgment. 
Nothing more is frequently necessary than to exhibit a ge- 
neral view of his observations, and to place them under 
different heads, in order to obtain results highly interest- 
ing : it is in this sense that we must understand the ex- 
pression of the celebrated Camper, " that Daubenton was 
unconscious of all the discoveries of which he was the 
author." 

This work procured for Daubenton a very high reputa- 
tion, and drew upon him the envy of Reaumur, who at 
that time considered himself as at the hetid of natural 
history. But the credit and reputation of Buffon was suf- 
ficient to prevent his friend from falling a victim to the 
• attack of this formidable antagonist. 

It gives us a very unfavourable idea of Buffon that after 
this he should himself commence the enemy of Daubenton. 
He was, however, weak enough to listen to some parasites, 
who persuaded him that it would redound greatly to his 
honour to dismiss his associate ; and, accordingly, Buifon 
actually published a new edition of his Natural History, in 
13 volumes, 12mo, in which are omitted not only the ana- 
tomy, but even the external characters, of the animals 
which Daubenton had furnished for the large edition; and 
as nothing was substituted in their stead, the work exhi- 
bits no idea of the form, colour, or distinctive attributes 
of the animals ; so that this small edition cannot supply 
any data whereby to ascertain the animals to which the 
author alludes, especially as they are not to be found either 
in Pliny, or Aristotle, wlio likewise, as is well known, 
neglected the descriptive details. 

BulTon moreover determined not to avail himself of his 
aid in the works he had projected on ornithology and mi- 
neralogy. Independently of this insult, Daubenton sus- 



343 D A U B E N T O N. 

tained a loss of 12,000 francs yearly. He might indeed 
have complained, hut it would necessarily have emhroiled 
' him with the intendant of the king's garden, and forced 
him lo resign the supenntendance of the cabinet he had 
formed, and to which lie was as much attached as to life; 
overlooking, therelore, this injnrious treatment, he con- 
tinued to pursuf' his former occupations. The , regret 
which all naturalists testified when the first part of his Or- 
nithology made its appearance without being accompanied 
by those accurate descriptions and anatomical details which 
they estimated so highly, served, however, to console him. 
He would still have felt more chagrin if his attachment for 
the great man who uegLcted him had not yielded to his 
self-love when he beheld the first volumes, to which Gue- 
neau de Montheliard did not contribute, filled with inac- 
curacies, and destitute of all those particulars which it was 
impossible for Butfon to supply. All this was still more 
manifest in the supplements — the productions of Buffon 
in his old age ; and in which he carried his injustice so far 
as to employ a common draughtsman, for the part which 
Daubeiuon had so well executed in the former volumes. 
Hence many naturalists have endeavoured to supply this 
void ; and, among others, the celebrated Pallas took Dau- 
benton for a model in his Miscellanies and Zoological 
Gleanings, as well as in his History of Rodentia; works 
which must be considered as real supplements to Buftbn ; 
and, next to his large work, the best on quadrupeds. It 
is well known how successfully La Cepede, the illustrious 
continualor of Buff(,n, and who w^as also the friend and 
colleague of Daubenton, whose loss he equally bewails with 
ourselves, has united in his works on ichthyology and rep- 
tiles a rich and brilliant style with the mo.st scrupulous ac- 
curacy of descr'ption ; and how well he has supplied the 
province of his two predecessors. Daubenton so far for- 
got the injurious treatment he had received from Buffon, 
that he afterwards contributed to several parts of the natu- 
ral history, although his name does not appear; and there 
exist proofs that when Buffon composed his History of 
Minerals, he derived much assistance from the mauuscript 
of his lecturts delivered in the French college. Their in- 
timacy, notwiihstaiiding the interruption from the circum- 
stance before mentioned, was even fully re-established, 
a|)d continued to be maintained to the death of Buffon. 
It was not in the power of Daubenton to furnish many 



D A U B E N T O N. 349 

memoirs to the academy of sciences during the eiofhtecri 
years in which the fifteen volumes in quarto of the " His- 
tory of Quadrupeds" successively appeared ; l)ut he aiter- 
wards fully compensated for tliis, by suppiyinj^ not only 
the academy, but also the medical and agricultural societies, 
and the national institute, with a great number of papers, 
all of which contain, as well as the works he published 
separately, many interesting facts and original observa- 
tions. His experiments on agriculture and rural crconomy 
were, however, of more service to him aftervvartls than all 
the rest of liis labours, on account of the reputation among 
the populace which they had procured him. h) 1784 he 
published " Instructions for Shepherds and Proprietors of 
Flocks," and was the means of introducing an improved 
breed of sheep into France. His experiments on this sub- 
ject were begun about 1766, and the object of his constant 
pursuits, in which he was encouraged by successive ad- 
ministrations, and in which he eminently succeeded, was 
to demonstrate the bad effects of confining sheep in stables 
during the night, and the utility of allowing them to range 
at large; to atten)pt different means of improving their 
breed; to point out how to determine the different qua- 
lities of the wool ; to discover the mechanism of rumination, 
and thence to deduce some useful conclusions respecting 
the temperament of wool -bearing animals, as well as with 
regard to the mode of rearing and feeding them ; to dis- 
seminate the produce of his sheep-fold throughout every 
province; to distribute his rams to all the proprietors of 
flocks ; to manufacture woollen-cloth from his own raw 
material, with tlie view of convincing the most prejudiced 
of its superiority ; to form intelligent shepherds in order 
that they might propagate his method, and to render his 
instructions intelligible to all classes' of as^riculturists. 

By these labours he had acquired a kind of popularity 
which proved very useful to liim in a dangerous crisis. 
During the second year of the revolution, when it was left 
for an ia:norant multitude to decide on the fate of the most 
intelligent and virtuous of men, the venerable octogenarian 
Daubenton found it necessary, in order to preserve the 
situation which he had filled with so much crtridit to himself 
during a period of fifty years, to solicit from the section of 
Sans Culottes a certificate of his civism. It was then scarcely 
possible for a professor, or an academician, to obtain one; 
but some sensible persons who intermingled with the po- 



350 D A U B E N T O N. 

pulace in the hope of moderating their fury, presented him 
under the appellation of the Shepherd ; and it was thus the 
shepherd Daubenton procureU the necessary certificate* 
as director of the museum of natural history. This paper 
is still preserved, and may serve as a curious proof of the 
degraded state of France at that period. 

Besides his puhlications, Daubenton was of great ser- 
vice to science as a lecturer. From 1775 he gave lectures 
on natural history in the college of medicine. In 1783 he 
lectured on rural ceconomy. He was appointed professor 
of mineralog}' by the Convention at the garden of plants, 
and he gave lectures during the short existence of what 
was called the Normal school. He was likewise one of 
the editors of the ** Journal des Savans," and contributed 
to both the Encyclopcedias. As a lecturer he was ex- 
tremely popular, and retained his popularity to the last. 

Notwithstanding the feebleness of his constitution, he 
arrived at a very advanced age without much disease, or 
loss of his faculties. This may be in some measure as- 
cribed to the gentleness of his temper, and his remarkable 
resignation. He varied his studies also by frequently 
reading amusing books of the lighter kind. In 1799, he 
was named a member of the Conservative Senate, and 
was anxious to fulfil his new duties as he had formerly ful- 
fiilled all those with which he was charged ; he was forced 
to make some change in his usual dress, and the weather 
beino- extremely rigorous, the first time he assisted at the 
sitting of that body, of which he had become a mem- 
ber, he was struck with an apoplexy, and fell senseless 
into the arms of his colleagues : the most prompt means 
were employed to afford him relief, but he only recovered 
his recollection for a short period, during which he evinced 
the same character as that he had uniformly displayed 
throu'rhout life. With the utmost calmness, observing the 

• Copy of the certificate of Dau- self as a worthy ami good citizen, the 

benton's civism. General Assembly unanimously decree. 

Section of Sans Culottes. that he shall rtceive a certificate of 

Copy ot the extract of the delibera- civism, and that the president, at- 

tionsoftheGeneral Assembly convened tended by several nieuibers of the 

on the 5th of the 1st decade, in the aforesaid assembly, shall give him the 

third moiuh of the seci)n«l ytar of the fraternal embrace, with every mark of 

French Republic, one an<l mdivisible. honour due to tbat virtuous and hu- 

" As it appears from the report made mane conduct which he has displayed 

by the fraternal society of the section on various occasions. 

of Sans Culottes, thai the shepherd (Signed) " R. G. Dardel, president." 

Daubemoa has always conducted him- A true copy. (Signed) "JJuMOHT.sec." 



D A U B E N T O N. 351 

progress of his disease, he pointed out to his friends the 
different parts of his body which were siill sensible, and 
unaffected by paralysis. He expired without a struggle on 
January 1, 1800, and was interred with the funeral honours 
due to the high character he supported among his coun- 
try nieu.' 

DAUBENTON (William), a French Jesuit, of some 
fame, was born at Auxerre October 21, 1648, and after 
performing his novitiate, became a member of the society 
of Jesuits at Nancy in 1683. After preaching with much 
success for some time, his health obliged him to desist, 
and he was chosen companion or assistant of the provincial. 
He was afterwards elected rector of the college of Stras- 
burgh, and promoted to be provincial of Champagne. 
He would have been advanced to another ecclesiastical (jo- 
vernment, had not Louis XIV. requested that he might 
continue in the college of Strasburgh, more effectually to 
establish some regulations which he had begun when first 
appointed rector. In 1700 the king appointed him con- 
fessor to Philip V. of Spain, and he remained in high fa- 
vour with that prince until the courtiers, grown jealous of 
iiis power, prevailed upon the king to send hini from the 
court in 1706. He was, however, recalled again in 1716^ 
and being reinstated in his office, gained a still greater 
ascendancy over the mind of Philip V. This prince, when 
disgusted with his throne, and wishing to abdicate it, con- 
fided his design to Daubenton, who is said to have betrayed 
the secret to the duke of Orleans, which conduct ter- 
minated in his disgrace a second time, but the manner of 
ft is variously represented by historians. He died, how- 
ever, in 1723- His character is doubtful, some maintain- 
ing that he was a man of intrigue, and others that he made 
no improper use of his talents or influence. His works 
consist chiefly of funeral orations, and a life of St. Francis 
Regis, Paris, 1716, 4to, which t\'as translated and pub- 
lished in English, Lond. 1738, 8vo, a work full of absurd 
miracles. He published likewise a more enlarged account 
of the merits of this saint, entitled " Scripta varia in causa 
beatificationis et canoni^ationis J, F. Regis," Rome, 
1710 and 1712, 2 vols. foho. ^ 

DAUBUZ (Charles), a learned French protestant di- 
vine, was born about 1670, and came to England on the 

* Life by Cuyier ia the Memoirs of the Institute. « Moreri, — -Diet. Hist. 



352 D A U B U Z. 

revocation of the edict of Nantz. Of his history we hav6 
only a short memorandum in MS. by Mr. Whiston, who 
supposes that he died in 1740. He wrote " Pro Testi- 
nonio Josephi de JesU Christo, contra Tan. Fabrum et 
alios," Lond. 1700, 8vo ; and a *' Commentary on the Re- 
velation of St. John," 17 12, folio. This was, in 1730, 
published by Peter Lancaster, vicar of Bowden in Cheshire, 
under the title of " A Perpetual Commentary, &c. newly 
modelled, abridged, and rendered plain to the meanest 
capacities." Mr. Daubuz is here said to have been vicar 
of Brotherton in Cheshire. Mr. Whiston adds that he had 
a son, a clergyman, also beneficed in Yorkshire, near Fer- 
rybridge, a studious man, who lived in obscurity, and died 
a bachelor about 1752.* 

DAUMIUS (Christian), an eminent classical and phi- 
lological scholar, was born March 29, 1612, at Zwickau, 
became regent of the college in that place 1642, and 
rector of the same 1662, which office he discharged with 
great credit till his death, December 16, 1687. He was 
one of the most learned men of his age ; he understood 
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, the Turkish, French, Italian, Spa- 
nish, and Bohemian languages, and had a complete know- 
ledge of Arabic. Besides editions of several works, which 
aftbrd a testimony of his industry and superior talents, he 
left "Letters," Jena, 1670, 4to ; Dresden, 1697, 8vo; 
Chemnits, 1709, 8vo, all different : some poems and dis- 
sertations, as, " Traciatus de causis amissarum Linguae 
Latinae radicum," 1642, Svo ; and in the *' Systema Dis- 
sert, rar." of Gracvius, Utrecht, 1701, 4to. " 

DAUN (Leopold Count), a celebrated Austrian gene- 
ral, prince of Tiano, knight of the golden fleece, and of 
the order of Maria Theresa, field marshal, minister of state, 
and president of the Aulic council of war, was born in 1 705, 
of an ancient and illustrious family. He was colonel of a 
regiment of infantry in 1740, and distinguished himself in 
the war which Maria Theresa carried on for the preserva- 
tion of the dominions which were left her by Charles VL 
The succeeding war procured him a still more brilliant 
fame. Piince Charles of Lorraine being besieged in 
Prague, Daun, at the head of an army collected in haste, 
took the resolution to force the enemy to raise the siege, 

* MS. Whiston, in his copy of the fust edition of this Dictionary. 
2 -Moreri. — Niccion, Vol. XXX. 



D A U N. 353 

gave battle to the king of Prussia at Chotchemitch, the 
18th of June, 1757, and gained a complete victory. It 
was on this occasion that the empress- queen instituted the 
military order that bears her name. The battle of Hoch- 
kirchen, in 1758, added fresh laurels to those of the de- 
liverer of Prague. In 1758, by a series of judicious move- 
ments he delivered Olmutz, and attacked the Prussians iu 
1759 at Pirna, took the whole army commanded by gene- 
ral Finck, and made them prisoners of war. He had not 
the same success at Siplitz near Torgau, in 1760, where 
the enemy, after the marshal had been obliged to retire 
from the field on account of a dangerous wound, gained 
the superiority. This was followed by the peace of Hu- 
bertsbourg in 1763. He died at Vienna, the 5th of Feb- 
ruary 1766, with the reputation of an experienced, brave, 
circumspect general, humane and compassionate, uniting 
the virtues of the Christian with those of tlie soldier. Oc- 
casions where prudence was more necessary than activity, 
were particularly favourable to him. His perceptions were 
quick and sure ; but, when the urgency of the moment 
excluded maturity of reflection, he found it difficult to 
take a vigorous determination. Accordingly his victories 
were often without effect, and the vanquished, by bold 
and rapid manoeuvres, sometimes were enabled almost in- 
stantly to repair their defeat.' 

DAUNOIS (Countess). See AUNOY. 

DAURAT, or DORAT, in Latin Auratus (John), an 
eminent French poet, was born near the head of the 
"Vienne, in the Limousin, about 1507. Removing to the 
capital of the kingdom to finish his studies, he distinguished 
himself in such a manner by his skill in Greek, and his 
talent at poetry, that he became one of the professors of 
the university of Paris. In 1560 he succeeded John Stra- 
cellus in the post of king's reader and professor of Greek ; 
but before this he had been principal of the college of 
Coqueret, and tutor to John Antony de Baif, in the house 
of his father Lazarus de Baif, who was master of the re- 
quests. He continued to instruct this young pupil in the 
college of Coqueret ; and he had also the famous Ronsard 
for his scholar there, during the space of seven years. His 
highest praise is, that his school produced a great number of 
able men ; but impruden . generosity and want of manage- 
ment reduced him to poverty, and procured him a place in 

» Diet. Hist, 

Vol. XI. A A 



354 D A U R A T. 

the list of those learned men, whose talents have been of 
little benefit to themselves. In the reign of Henry II. be had 
been preceptor to the kind's pages ; and Charles IX. ho- 
noured him with the title of his poet, took great delight in 
conversing with him, and endeavoured to support him in his 
old age. It will not now be thought much in his favour that 
Daurat had an uncommon partiality for anagrams, of which 
he was the first restorer. It is pretended, that he found the 
model of them in Lycophron, and brought them so much into 
vogue, that several illustrious persons gave him their names 
to anagrammatise. He undertook also to explain the cen- 
turies of Nostradamus, and with such imposing plausibility 
as to be considered in the light of his interpreter or sub- 
prophet. When he was near 80, having lost his first wife, 
he married a young girl ; and by her had a son, for whom 
he shewed his fondness by a thousand ridiculous actions. 
In excuse for this marriage, he said that he would rather 
die by a bright sword than a rusty one. He had by his 
first wife, among other children, a son, who was the author 
of some French verses, printed in a collection of his owa 
poems ; and a daugliter, whom he married to a learned 
man, named Nicolas Goulu, in whose favour he resigned 
his place of regius professor of Greek. He wrote a great 
many verses in Latin, Greek, and French, in some of which 
he attacked the protestants ; and no book was printed, nor 
did any person of consequence die, without his producing 
some verses on the subject ; as if he had been poet in 
ordinary to the kingdom, or his muse had been a general 
mourner. The odes, epigrams, hymns, and other poems 
in Greek and Latin, composed by Daurat, have been esti- 
mated at the gross sum of 50,000 verses ; Scaliger had 
such an opinion of him as a critic, that he said he knew 
none but him and Cujacius, who had abilities sufficient to 
restore ancient authors ; but he has presented the public 
with no specimen of that talent, except some remarks on 
the Sybilline verses in Opsopeeus's edition. Scaliger telb 
lis, with some ridicule, however, tliat he spent the latter 
part of his life in endeavouring to find all the Bible in 
Homer. He died at Paris, Nov. 1, 1588, aged 8L. His 
principal collection of verses is entitled ** Joannis Aurati, 
Lemovicis, Poetje et interpretis regii, Poematia, hoc est, 
Poematum libri quinque; Epigrammatum libri tres ; Ana- 
grammatum liber unus ; Funerum liber unus; Odarum libri 
duoj Kpithalamiorum liber unus; Eclogarum libri duo; 



D A U R A T. 355 

Vat'iarum ferum liber Unus," Paris, 1586, 8vo, a ver}' sin- 
gular collection, although of no great merit as to taste or 
versification. He deserves more praise as one of the re- 
vivers of Greek literature in France, and in that character 
his memory was honoured, in 1775, by an eloge, written 
by the abbe Vitrac, professor of humanity at Limoges.' 

DAU8QUK, or DAUSQUEIUS (Claudius), a learned 
Jesuit, was born at St. Omer's in 1366, and became canon 
of Tournay, where he died Jan. 17, 1644. He was an ex- 
cellent Greek and Latin scholar, and a good critic, but 
wrote in an affected and obscure style. Some of his works 
are still valued, although their rarity prevents their being 
generally known. Among these are, 1. " Antiqui novi- 
que Latii Orthographica," Tournay, 1632, fol. Of this 
there is a pretended Paris edition of 1677, which is pre- 
cisely the same, with a new title-page and date. 2. *' Terra 
et aqua, sen terras Huctuantes," Tournay, 1633, 4to ; of 
this there are also copies of Paris, 1677, with only a new 
title. The small floating isles near St. Omer's furnished 
the idea of this work, in which there are many .curious ob- 
servations on marine productions. He also translated into 
Latin, the " Orations of St. Basil of Seleucia," with notes, 
1604, 8vo; and published an edition of Quintus Calaber, 
1614, 8vo, and some other works, theological and critical, 
which are enumerated in our authorities.* 

DAWES (Lancelot), a learned English divine, was 
born in 1580, at Barton-Kirk in Westmoreland, and be- 
came a student in Queen's college, Oxford, in 1597, and 
when B. A. was made tabarder, and in 1605, master of 
arts and fellow. At college he was of a retired studious 
disposition, and accounted an ornament to the society. 
Havins taken orders, he was beneficed at Barton-kirk, and 
afterwards presented to a prebend of Carlisle. About the 
same time he received the degree of D. D. from the uni- 
versity of St. Andrew's, and was promoted to the rectory of 
Ashby in Westmoreland. He was much esteemed for 
learning, and talents in preaching, of which he published 
a specimen in *' Sermons preached upon several occa- 
sions," London, 1653. He died in the month of February 
in the same year, and was buried in the chancel of Barton- 
kirk. His character was honoured by verses in Greek, 

* Moreri in Dorat. — Niceron, vol. XXVL — Gen. Diet. — Baillet Jug:emens. 

* Fopoen, Bibl. Belg. — Moreri. — Gen. Diet. — Baiikt J ugemens.— Clement 
Bibl. Curieuiie.-i^SaxJi Onomast, 

A .'V 2 



356 D A W E Si» 

Latin, and English, by Tully, Williamson, and Ellis, three 
scholars of Queen's." 

DAWES (Richard), a learned critic, especially in the 
Greek tongue, was born in 1708. A respectable family of 
the name of Dawes had long been situatt-d at Stapieton, 
between Market-Bosworth and Hinckley in Leicestershire, 
and our critic was probably of the same family, but it does 
not appear, from the register of the parish, that he was 
born at that place. There was a Dr. Dawes, who, early 
in the last century, resided at Stapieton, and was a great 
scholar, and a searcher after the philosopher's stone. It 
has been supposed, that he might be father to the subject 
of the present article ; but of this fact no decisive evidence 
can be produced. All the traditions concerning Richard 
Dawes are, that the place of his birth was either Market- 
Bosworth, or the vicinity of that town. Whoever his 
parents were, or whatever was their condition in life, it is 
probable that they perceived such marks of capacity in 
their son, as determined them to devote him to a literary 
profession ; and accordingly he was put to the free gram- 
mar-school at Bosworth, where he had the happiness of 
receiving part of his education under the care of Mr. An- 
thony Blackwall. Here he laid the foundation of that cri- 
tical knowledge of the Greek language which he afterwards 
displayed so conspicuously. In 1725, he was admitted a 
sizar of Emanuel college, in the university of Cambridge, 
where he proceeded bachelor of arts in 1729. On the 2d 
of October, 1731, he became a fellow of the college on 
the nomination of sir Wolston Dixie, bart. In 1733, he 
took the degree of master of arts. The next year he was 
a candidate for the place of esquire beadle of the univer- 
sity, but his application was not crowned with success. 
Whilst Mr. Dawes was at Cambridge, he distinguished 
himself by some peculiarities of conduct, which probably 
arose from a mixture of insanity in his constitution ; and in 
his conversation he occasionally took such liberties on cer- 
tain topics as gave great offence to those about him. Hav- 
ing indulged himself too much, at college, in an indolent 
sedentary way of life, he, at length, found it absolutely 
necessary to have recourse to some kind of exercise. In 
this case, being of a strong athletic frame of body, and 
not over-delicate in the choice of his company, he took to 
the practice of ringing ; and, as such a ggnius could not 

» Ath. Ox. vol. II. 



DAWES. 357 

stop at mediocrity, he quickly became the leader of the 
band, and carried the art to the higliest perfection. 

Another circumstance, thougli of a very diflcrent nature, 
by which Mr. Dawes rendered liiniself remarkable, was his 
taking a violent part against Dr. BcMitley, and even endea-? 
vouring to depreciate that great man's literature. In his 
*' Miscellanea Criiica," on several occasions, he detracts 
from Dr. Bentley's praises; and did not scruple to assert, 
that the doctor, '* nihd in Grcecis cognovisse, nisi ex in-, 
dicibus petitum," knew nothing relative to Grecian litera- 
ture, but what he had drawn from indexes; an assertion 
which could only proceed from extreme vanity, or per- 
sonal dislike, or a bigoted attachment to a party. Indeed, 
the contempt with which writers of distinguished abilities 
sometimes speak of each other, is a disgrace to the repub- 
lic of letters ; and it is much to be lamented that a spirit 
so contrary to the dictates of justice and urbanity, should 
still continue to prevail among men who otherwise deserve 
to be held in esteem. 

In 1736, Mr. Dawes published Proposals for printing 
by subscription, " Paradisi amissi, a cl. Miltono conscripti. 
Liber primus, Graeca versione donatus, una cum Aunota- 
tionibus." These proposals were accompanied with a spe- 
cimen, which may be seen in the preface to the Miscel- 
lanea Critica, where our author explains his reasons for 
not proceeding in his undertaking, and very ingenuously 
points out the errors of his own performance. It was cus- 
tomary with him, in conversation, humourously to expose 
his version to ridicule ; and, tlierefore, though he had 
actually completed his design, by translating the whole 
first book of the Paradise Lost, it is no wonder that he did. 
not commit it to the press. 

On the 10th of July, 1738, Mr. Dawes was appointed 
master of the free grammar-school in Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, in the room of Mr. Edmund Lodge, who had re- 
signed that office. The commencement of liis duty was to 
take place at the Michaelmas following. In tiie same year, 
on the 9th of October, he was preferred, by act of com- 
mon council, to the mastership of the hospital of the 
blessed Virgin Mary in Newcastle. The business of Mr. 
Dawes's new station did not prevent hun from prosecuting 
his inquiries into the nature, peculiarities, and eleg mcies 
of the Greek tongue ; and accordingly, in 1745, he pub- 
lished his ** Miscellanea Critica" Mr. Hubbard, of Ema- 
nuel college, Cambridge, and Dr. Mason, of Trinity, 



35S DAWES. 

assisted in the publication. It was Mr. Dawes's design in 
this work, to aftord such a specimen of his critical abilities, 
as should enable the learned world to judge what might be 
expected from iiim, in an edition which he had projected 
of all the Attic poets, as well as of Homer and Pindar. 
Though his scheme was never carried into execution, he 
has obtained, by his " Miscellanea Critica," a very high 
place among those who have contributed to the promotion 
of Greek learning in England, and, as such, his name will 
be transmitted with honour to posterity. Accordingly, the 
book has been spoken of in terms of distinguished applause, 
by some of the first literary characters in Europe, particu- 
larly Valkener, Pierson, Koen, and Reiske. A second 
edition of it, in octavo, was given in 1781, from the Cla- 
rendon press, by the rev. Mr. Burgess, of Corpus Christi 
college, Oxford, now bishop of St. David's, who has en- 
riched the work with a learned preface, and a nuniber of 
notes of great value and importance, and some assistance 
from Dawes's MSS. procured by Dr. Farmer and Mr. Salter. 
Mr. Dawes's situation at Newcastle was neither so happy 
nor so useful as might have been expected ; in a great 
measure owing to the eccentricity of his disposition, and, 
indeed, to his imagination being in some respects dis- 
turbed. Hence he fancied that all his friends had slighted 
him, or used him ill ; and of the jealousy of his temper he 
has left a remarkable instance, on a very trifling occasion. 
His printer, by an unfortunate mistake, in a passage of 
Terentianus Maurus, which Mr. Dawes had quoted in order 
to correct, had inserted a comma that destroyed the merit 
of the emendation. In consequence of this involuntary 
error, our author, in the Addenda to his Miscellanea, has 
expressed himself with great indignation. He declares, 
that he could not conjecture what fault he had committed 
against the printer, that he should envy him the honour, 
whatever it was, that was due to his correction; and he 
adds, that he knows not how it happened, that, for seve- 
ral years past, he had been ill used by those from whom 
he had deserved better treatment. With the corporation 
of Newcastle he became involved in altercations, and 
adopted a singular method of displaying his resentment, or 
rather his contempt; for in teaching the boys at school, he 
made them translate the Greek word for ass into alderman ; 
which some of the lads did seriously, though otherwise 
M-eli instructed. With such a disposition of mind, it is not 
surprising tiiat his scholars were, at length, reduced to a, 



D A W E S. 35D 

very small number ; so that it became expedient for him 
to consent to quit his station. Accordingly, at Midsum- 
mer, 1749, he resigned the mastership of the grannnar- 
scliool, and the mastership of St. Mary's iiospital ; and, in 
consideration of these sacrifices, the mayor and burgesses 
of Newcastle, on the 2otli of September following, exe- 
cuted a bond, by which tlioy engaged to grant him an 
annuity of eighty pounds a-year, during life. 

Mr, Dawes, after his resignation of the above two offices, 
retired to Heworth-shore, about three miles below New- 
castle, on the south side of the Tyne, wliere his favourite 
amusement was the exercise of rowing in a boat. In his 
conversation, he preserved, to the last, his splenetic hu- 
mour ; abusing every thing, and every person that he had 
formerly regarded. He departed this life, at Heworth, 
on the 21st of March, 17 66, and, agreeably to his own 
desire, was buried in the church-yard of that place ; where 
a common head-stone, little suited to the just reputation 
of so eminent a scholar, continues to mark his grave with 
the words, " In memory of Richard Dawes, late head- 
master of the grammcr (sic) school at Newcastle ; who died, 
the 21st of March, 1766. Aged 57 years.'" 

DAWES (Sir Willlvm), archbishop of York, the 
youngest son of sir John Dawes, baronet, by Jane his wife, 
the daughter and only child of Richard Hawkins, of Brain- 
tree, in the county of Essex, gent, was born Sept. 1 2, 
1671, at Lyons, (a seat which came by his mother) near 
Braintree, and received the first rudiments of learning at 
iVIerchant-taylors'-school in London, from Mr. John Hart- 
clirt'e, and Mr. Ambr. Bonwicke, successively masters of 
that school ; under whose care he made great proficiency 
in the knowledge of the classics, and was a tolerable 
master of the Hebrew ton«>ue, even before he was fifteen 
years of age ; which was chiefly owing to the additional 
care that Dr. Kidder, afterwards bishop of Bath and Wells, 
took of his education. In act term 1687, he became a 
scholar of St. John's college in Oxford, and after his con- 
tinuance there two years or upwards, was made fellow. 
But his father's title and estate descending to him, upon 
the death of his two brothers, which happened about the 
same time, he left Oxford, and entering hiuiself a noble- 
man in Catherine-hall, Cambridge, lived in his eldest bro- 
ther's chambers; and, as soon as he was of fit standing, 
took the degree of master of arts. His intention, fioai tlie 

1 Biog, Brit, 



360 DAWES. 

very first, was to enter into holy orders ; and tlierefore to 
qualify himself for that purpose, among other introductory 
works, he seems to have made some of onr late eminent 
divines a considerahle branch of his study, even before he 
was eighteen years of age : and he shewed always a serious 
and devout temper of mind, and a true sense and love of 
piety and reli<j;:ion. After he had taken his master of arts' 
degree, not beinj^ of age to enter into holy orders, he 
thought it proper to visit the estate he was now become 
owner of, and to make a short tour into some other parts 
of the kingdom, which he had not yet seen. But his in- 
tended progress was, in some measure, stopped by his 
happening to meet with Frances, the eldest daughter of 
sir Thomas Darcy, of Braxstead-lodge, in Essex, baronet, 
a fine and accomplished woman, to whoui he paid his ad- 
dresses, and, not long after, married. As soon as lie 
came to a competent age, lie was ordained deacon and 
priest by Dr. Compton, bishop of London. Shortly after, 
he was created doctor in divinity, by a royal mandate, in 
order to be qualified for the mastership of Catherine-hall ; 
to which he was unanimously elected, in 1696, upon the 
death of Dr. John Echard. At his coming thither he found 
the bare case of a new chapel, begun by his predecessor; 
to the completion of which he contributed very liberally, 
and, among other beneficial acts to his college, he ob- 
tained, through his interest with queen Anne, and her 
chief ministers, an act of parliament for annexing the first 
prebend of Norwich which should become vacant, to the 
mastershi}) of Catherine-hall for ever. Not long after his 
election, he became vice-chancellor of Cambridge, and 
discharged that dignity with universal applause. In 1696, 
he was made one of the chaplains in ordinary to king Wil- 
liam ; and, shortly after, was presented by his majesty 
without interest or solicitation, and merely, as the king said, 
by way of pledge of his future favour, to a prebend of 
Worcester, in which he was installed August 26, 1698. 
On the 1 0th of November 1698, he was collated by arch- 
bishop Tenison to the rector}', and, the li)th of Decem- 
ber following, to tiie deanery, of Bocking in Essex, aiwl 
behaved in that parish in a very charitable and exemplary 
manner. AI'Lcr queen Anne's accession to the throne, he 
was made one of her majesty's chaplains, and became so 
great a favotirite with her, that he had a reasonable expec- 
tation of being advanced to some of the highest dignities 



DAWES. 364 

in the church. Accordingly, though he happened acci- 
dentally to miss of the bishopric of Lincoln *, which be- 
came vacant in 1705 ; yet her majesty, of her own accord, 
named him to tlie see of Chester, in 1707, upon the death ' 
of Dr. Nicholas Stratford : and he was consecrated Febru- 
ary 8, 1707-8. In 1713-4, he was, by the recommenda- 
tion of his worthy predecessor Dr. John Sharp, translated 
to the archiepiscopal see of York, being elected thereto 
February 26, and enthroned by proxy the 24th of iMarch fol- 
lowing. He continued above ten years in this eminent sta- 
tion, honoured and respected by all. At length a diarrhoea, 
to which he had been subject several times before, ending 
in an inHammation of his bowels, put a period to his life 
April 30, 1724, in the fifty-third year of his age. He was 
buried in the chapel of Catherine-hall, Cambridge, near 
his lady, who died December 22, 1705, in the twenty-ninth 
year of her age. By her he had seven children, William, 
BVancis, William, Thomas, who all died young ; and Eli- 
zabeth, Jane, and Darcy, who survived him. In person 
he was tall, proportionable, and bear.tiful. There was in 
his look and gesture something easier to be conceived than 
described, that gained every one's favour, even before he 
spoke. His behaviour was easy and courteous to all ; his 
civility free from formality ; his conversation lively and 
cheerful, but without any tincture of levity. He had a 
genius well fitted for a scholar, a lively imagination, a 
strong memory, and a sound judgment. He was a kind 
and loving husband, a tender and indulgent parent, and 
so extraordinary good a master, that he never was observed 
to be in a passion ; and took care of the spiritual as well as 
the temporal welfare of his domestics. In his episcopal 
capacity, he visited his large diocese with great diligence 
and constancy, Nottinghamshire one year, and Yorkshire 
another; but every third year he did not hold any visita- 
tion. He performed all the offices of his function with be- 
coming seriousness and gravity. He look great care and 

* The reason of his missing: of it, was inclination) to give it to Dr. W. Wake, 

this: being appointed to preach before afterwards archbi-liop of Canterbury, 

queen Anne on the 30>h of January, This, however, made no impression 

(whilst that bisliopr'c was vacant by upon sir William: and, therefore, when 

the death of Dr. James Gardiner) sir he was told by a certain nobleman, that 

William was not afraid to utter some he lost a bishopric by his preaching, his 

bold truths, which at that time were reply was, " That, as to that he had 

not so well relished by certain persons no maimer of concern upon him, be- 

JD power, who took occasion from thence cau>e his intention was never to gain 

to persuade the queen (contrary to her one by preaching." 



362 DAWES. 

caution, to admit none but sufficient labourers into tlie 
Lord's liarvest ; and when ada)itted, to appoint them sti- 
pends adequate to their labour. He administered justice 
to all with an equal and impartial hand ; being no respec- 
ter of persons, and making no difference between the poor 
and rich, but espoushig all into the intimacy of his bosom, 
his care, his aifability, his provision, and his prayers. 

So strict an observer was he of his word, that no con- 
sideration whatever could make him break it ; and so in- 
violable in his friendship, that without the discovery of 
some essential fault indeed, he never departed from it. 
A great point of conscience it was with bin), that his 
promises should not create fruitless expectances ; but 
when, upon ])roper- considerations, he was induced to do 
it, he always thought himself bound to employ his utmost 
interest to have the thing effected ; and till a convenient 
opportunity sliould present itself, was not unmindful to 
support the petitioner (if in mean circumstances) at his 
own expence : for charity indeed was his predominant 
quality. — Both as a bishop and jieer of the reahn, he con- 
sidered himself as responsible for the souls committed to 
his charge in one respect, and as intrusted with the lives 
and fortunes of his fellow subjects, in the other. If in 
some parliamentary debates (in whicii he made a very con- 
siderable ligure), he happened to dissent from other great 
men, who might have the same common good in view, but 
seemed to pursue it in a method incongruous^to his senti- 
ments, tliis ought to be accounted his honour, and a proof 
of his integrity, but cannot, with any colour of justice, be 
deemed party prejudice, or a spirit of contradiction in 
him ; because those very men, whom he sometimes op- 
posed, at other times he joined himself to, whenever he 
perceived them in the right. He associated himself with 
no party, it being his opinion, that whoever enters the 
senate house, should always carry his conscience along 
with him; that the honour of God, the renown of his 
prince, and the good of his fellow subjects, should be, as 
it were, the jjolar^star to guide him ; that no multitude, 
though never so numerous; no faction, though never so 
powerful ; no arguments, though never so specious ; no 
threats, though never so frightful ; no offers, though never 
so advantageous and alluring ; should blind his eyes, or 
pervert him to give any the least vote, not directly answer- 
able to the sentiments of his own breast. 



I) A W E S. 363 

After his death appeared " The whole Works of sir Wil- 
liam Dawes, hart." &c. 3 vols, 8vo, with a preface and 
life, 1733, including- those published hy himself, viz. 

1. " An Anatomy of Atheism," London, 1693, 4to, a poem, 
dedicated to sir George Darcy, hart. This poem was writ- 
ten by the author, before he was eighteen years of age. 

2. " The Duties of the Closet," &c. written by him before 
he was twenty-one years of age. 3. " The Duty of Com- 
municating explained and enforced," &c. composed for 
the use of his parish of Booking, in order to introduce a 
monthly celebration of the Holy Communion ; which used 
to he administered, before his coming thither, only at the 
three great festivals of the year. 4. *' Sermons preached 
upon several occasions before king William and queen 
Anne," London, 1707, 8vo, dedicated to queen Anne. 
5, He also drew up the preface to the works of Offspring 
Blackall, D. D. late bishop of Exeter, London, 1723, foL 
2 volumes. 

On account of sir William Dawes's " Anatomy of 
Atheism," Mr, Cibber has assigned him an article in his 
♦' Lives of the Poets." But the worthy prelate had very 
little title to be ranked in that catalogue. The piety of 
his work is unquestionable, and it is probably not defective 
^ in good sense ; but it has no claim to poetical excellence, 
nor has it even the merit of harmonious versification.' 

DAY, DA YE, or DAIE (John), a very eminent English 
printer in the sixteenth century, was born in St. Peter's 
parish, Dunwich, in Suffolk, and is supposed to have de- 
scended from a good family in that county. From whom 
he learned the art of printing, is not clear, unless perhaps 
Gibson, one of v.'hose devices Da)' frequently used. He 
first began printing about 1544, a little above Holborn 
Conduit, and at that time was in conjunction with William 
Seres, In 1549 he removed into Alderscrate-street, near 
St. Anne's church, where he built a j)rinting-office, but 
kept shops in various parts of the town, where his books 
were sold. It would appear that he forbore printing dur- 
ing the reign of queen Mary, yet continued improving 
himself in the art, as was evident by his subsequent publi- 
cations He was the first in England who printed the 
Saxon letter, and brought that of Greek to great perfec- 
tion, as well as the Italic and other characters, of which he 

» Preface to his Works,— Biog. Brit.— NicoUon's Letters, vol. II. p, 473, 



364 DAY. 

had great variety. Archbishop Parker, who frequently 
employed him, considered him as excelling his brethren in 
skill and industry. He was the first person admitted into 
the livery of the Stationers' company, after they obtained 
their charter from Philip and Mary, was chosen warden in 
1564, 1566, 1571, and 1575, and master in 1580. In 1583 
he yielded up to the disposal of the company, for the re- 
lief of their poor, his right to certain books and copies. 
He died July 23, 1584, after having followed the business 
of a printer with great reputation and success for forty 
years, and was buried in the parish church of Bradley 
Parva, in the count^^ of Suffolk, with a monument on which 
are inlaid the effigies of him, his wife, and family, and 
some lines, cut in the old English letter, intimating his 
services in the cause of the reformation by his various pub- 
lications, especially of Fox's Acts and Monuments; and 
that he had two w.ves, and numerous children by both. 
Besides Fox, he printed several valuable editions of the 
Bible, of the works of the martyrs, of Ascham, and other 
then accounted standard authors.* 

DAY poHN), one of the sons of the preceding, was 
born in his father's house in Aldersgate-street in 1566, and 
entered a commoner of St. Alban's hall, Oxford, in 1582. 
In 1583, being then B. A. he was elected a fellow of Oriel 
college, took his master's degree, entered into holy orders, 
and became a very favourite preacher in the university. 
In the beginning of the reign of James I. with leave of his 
college, he travelled for three years, improving himself in 
learning and experience, and, as Wood tells us, " he vvas 
about to say," in Calvinism. After his return he was made 
vicar of St. Mary's in Oxford, in 1608, where his preach- 
ing obtained him the general respect both of the university 
and city. But being disappointed in the provostship of his 
college in 1621, he left Oxford, and was beneficed at 
Thurlovv in Suffolk, where he died 1627. Wood gives 
him the character of a person of great reading, and ad-' 
mirably versed in the fathers, schoolmen, and councils. 
Hepublished: 1. " Twelve Sermons," 1615, 4to. 2. " Con- 
ciones ad Clerum," Oxon. 1612 and 1615. 3. <' Day's 
Dyall, or, his Twelve Howres, that is. Twelve severall lec- 
tures by way of Catechisme, as they were delivered by 
\nai in the chapel of Oriel college in Oxford, in the years 

» Ames's Typographical Antiquities by Herbert, vol. I.^ 



DAY. 365 

of our Lord God 1612 and 1613," Oxford, 1614. On the 
title-page is a dial, and under it the quotation from St. John, 
ii. 9. *' Are there not twelve hours in the day V 4. " Cum- 
mentaries on the first eight Psalms of David," ibid. 16G.0, 
4to. His brother, Lionel Day, was of BalUol ;itid Oriel 
colleges, rector of Whichford, near Bt:i.'es in Warwick- 
shire, where he died in 1640. He published a " Concio 
adClerum."' 

DAY' (Richard), another son of the celebrated printer, 
and himself a printer, was educated at Eton school, and 
in 1571 elected thence to King's college, Cambridge, 
where he took his degree of M. A. and became fellow, and 
being ordained, supplied the place of minister at Ryegate 
in Surrey, in the room of the martyrologist. Fox. He af- 
terwards appears to have turned his thoughts to his father's 
trade, as he was called on the livery of the stationers' 
company in 1578. He carried on business in his father's 
house in Aldersgate-street, and had an exclusive privilege 
jointly with him during their lives, and that of the longest 
liver, to print the Psalms of David in metre. The books 
he printed himself are dated from 1578 to 158 1, after 
which his copies were printed by his assigns as far as 1597. 
When he died is not known. He wrote some verses, 
** Contra papistos incendiarios," in Fox's Martyrology, 1 576, 
which Herbert informs us are omitted in the subsequent 
editions. He translated Fox's " De Christo triumphante 
comoedia," to which he wrote a preface, and two dedica- 
tions ; one in the edition of 1579, to Mr, William Kyile- 
grewe ; the other in the edition of 1607, to William lord 
Howard, of Effingham. He wrote also a preface and 
conclusion to the " Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,'* 
and a short Latin preface to P. Bavo's treatises " De 
fide, &c." It was in this work that he first introduced 
a typographical reform in the distinct use of the letters j 
and i, v and u, which, however, did not generally take 
place until the following century. * 

DAY (Thomas), a poetical and miscellaneous writer, of 
an eccentric character, was born in Wellclose-square, Lon- 
don, June 22, 1748. His father was an officer in the cus- 
'tom-house, and had been twice married. Tlvis son was the 
issue of his second marriage to Miss Jane Bonham, the 
onJy daughter of Samuel Bonham, esq. a merchant in the 

» Ath. Ox. vol. I. * .'Vmes's Typographical Autiquities, by Herbert, 



366 D A V. 

city. His father died when he was little more than a yeaf 
old, leaving him a fortune of 1200/. a year, including 
300/. as a jointure to his mother, who in a few years mar- 
ried Thomas Phillips, esq. another officer in the custom- 
house. To this gentleman, who died in 1782, young Day 
behaved witli decent respect, but felt no great attachment. 
His mother, however, chiefly superintended his educa- 
tion, and accustomed him early, we are told, to bodily 
exertions, on whicli he afterwards set so high a value. 
He was first put to a child's school at Stoke Newington, 
and when admissible, was sent to the Charter-house, where 
he resided in the house and under the instructions of Dr. 
Crusius, until his sixteenth year. He now entered as a 
gentleman commoner of Corpus college, Oxford, where 
he remained tliree years, but left it without taking a degree. 

As soon as he came of age, his property and conduct 
devolved upon himself. At an early period of life, we 
are told, he manifested a particular fondness for scrutiniz- 
ing tile human character; and, as if such knowledge could 
not be acquired at home, he took a journey in 1766 from 
Oxford to Wales, that he might contemplate that class of 
men who, " as still treading the unimproved paths of na- 
ture, might be presumed to have the qualities of the mind 
pure and unsophisticated by art." \Vhat of this descrip- 
tion he found in Wales we are not informed ; but in pur- 
suit of the same investigation of men and manners, he de- 
termined, on coming of age, to go abroad ; and accord- 
ingly he spent one winter at Paris, another at Avignon, and 
a third at Lyons, a summer in the Austrian Netherlands, 
and another in Holland. At Lyons, as every where else, 
he was distinguished by his humanity and generosity, which 
made his departure from those places be sincerely re- 
gretted, and at Lyons produced an effect singularly cha- 
racteristic of the class of people on whom he bestowed 
his bounty. A large body of them assembled at his de- 
parture, and very justly considering that they would now 
be in a worse condition than if he had never relieved them, 
requested that he would leave a sum of money behind for 
their future wants. It is probable that these returns to hi* 
imprudent liberality had a considerable share in producing . 
the misanthropy which appeared in his future conduct. 

He had already formed some very absurd notions of the 
state of society in England, and had accustomed himself to 
mistake the reveries of Housseau for the result of expe- 



D A Y. 367 

Tience. He bad been early rejected by a young lady to 
whom he paid his addresses, and considering her as a fair 
sample of her sex, despaired of finding among them a wife 
such as he would chuse ; one that should have a taste for 
literature and science, for moral and patriotic philosophy ; 
fond of retirement '' from the infectious taint of human 
society ;" simple as a mountain girl, in her dress, her diet, 
and her manners; and fearless and intrepid as the Spartan 
wives and Roman heroines. Observation soon taught him 
that there was no such creature ready made, and he must -^ 
therefore mould some infant into the being his fancy had 
imaged. 

From a comparison of dates it appears to have been in 
1769, when he came of age, that he formed this curious 
project. Accompanied by a Mr. Bicknell, a barrister, ra- 
ther older than himself, he went to Shrewsbury to explore 
the Foundling hospital, and from these children, Mr. Day, 
in tlie presence of Mr. Bicknell, selected two girls of 
twelve years each; both beautiful: one fair, with flaxen 
locks and light eyes, whom he called Lncretia ; the other, 
a clear auburn brunette, with darker eyes, more glowing 
bloom, and chesnut tresses, he called Sabrina. These 
girls were obtainetl on written conditions, for the per- 
formance of which Mr. Bicknell was guarantee. They 
were to this effect : that Mr. Day should, within the twelve- - 
month after taking them, resign one into tlie protection 
of some respectal)le tradeswoman, giving one hundred 
pounds to bind her apprentice ; maintaining her, if she 
behaved well, till she married, or began business for her- 
self. Upon either of these events he promised to advance 
four hundred pounds more. He avowed his intention of 
educating the girl he should retain, with a view to make 
her his future wife : solemnly engaged never to violate her 
innocence ; and if he should renounce his plan, to maintain 
her decently in some creditable family till she married, 
when he promised five hundred pounds as her wedding 
portion. It would, probably, be quite unnecessary to make 
any appeal to the feelmgs of parents, or to offer any re- 
marks on the conduct of the governors of this hospital 
respecting this strange bargain, for the particulars of which 
we are indebted to Miss Seward. I'he narrative goes 
on to inform us, that Mr. Day went instantly into Francfe 
with these girls, not taking an English servant, that they 
might regeive no ideas, e.Kcept those which himself might 



368 DA Y. 

chuse to impart, and which he soon found were not very 
acceptable. His pupils teazed and perplexed him ; they 
quarrelled ; they sickened of the small pox ; they chained 
him to their bed-side, by crying if they were ever left 
alone with any ]ierson who could not speak English. 
Hence he was obliged to sit up with them many nights, 
and to perform for them the lowest offices of assistance. 
They lost no beauty, however, by their disease, and came 
back with Mr. Day in eight months, when Sabrina was 
become the favourite. He placed Lucretia with a chamber 
milliner, and she afterwards became the wife of a linen- 
draper in London. With Sabrina he actually proceeded 
during some years, in the execution of his favourite pro- 
ject ; but none of his experiments had the success he 
wished. Her spirit could not be armed against the dread 
of pain and the appearance of danger, a species of courage 
which, with him, was a sine qua non in the character of a 
wife. When he dropped melted sealing-wax upon her 
arms, she did not endure it heroically; nor when he fired 
pistols at her petticoats, which she believed to be charged 
with balls, could she help starting aside, or suppress her 
screams. When he tried her fidelity in secret-keeping, by 
tellintr her of well- invented dangers to himself, in which 
greater dansfer would result from its being discovered that 
he was aware of them, he once or twice detected her hav- 
ing imparted them tothe servants, and to her play-fellows. 
He persisted, however, in these foolish experiments, and 
sustained their continual disappointment during a whole 
year's residence in the vicinity of Lichfield. The diffi- 
culty seemed to be in giving her motive to self-exertion, 
self-denial, and heroism. It was against his plan to draw 
it from the usual sources, pecuniary reward, luxury, am- 
bition, or vanity. His watchful cares had precluded all 
knowledge of the value of money, the reputation of beauty, 
and its concomitant desire of ornamented dress. The 
only iuducement, therefore, which this girl could have to 
combat and subdue the natural preference in youth of ease 
to pain, and of vacant sport to the labour of thinking, was 
the desire of pleasing her protector, though she knew not 
how, or why he became such ; and in that desire fear had 
greatly the ascendant of affection. At length, however, 
he renounced all hopes of mouliling Sabrina into the being 
which his disordered imagination had formed ; and, ceasing 
now to behold her as a wife, placed her at a boarding- 



iD A Y. 365^ 

sthool at Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, where, during 
three years, she gained the esteem of her instructress, 
grew feminine, elegant, and amiable. She is still living, 
an ornament to the situation in which she is placed. 

After this, Mr. Day paid his addresses to two sisters in 
succession, both of whom rejected him. His appearance 
and manners were indeed not much calculated to charm, 
and the austere singularities of his sentiments, and the ca-» 
prices of his temper, all which were parts of the system of 
happiness he had formed to himself, were tolerable, even 
by his friends, for a very short period. With the second 
of these ladies, indeed, he was so enamoured as to tell her 
that he would endeavour to acquire external refinements ; 
but, finding- the progress he made insufficient to abate her 
dislike, he returned to his accustomed plainness of garb 
and neglect of his person ; and, notwithstanding these dis- 
advantages, he found a lady, a Miss Milnes of Yorkshire, 
then residing in London, to whom, after a singular court- 
ship, he was united in 1778. The best part of his conduct 
in this affair was his settling her whole fortune, which was 
as large as his own, upon herself, totally out of his present 
or future controul. What follows is of a less amiable com- 
plexion. They retired soon after their marriage, first to 
Stapleford Abbots in Essex, and afterwards to Anningsley, 
near Chertsey, in Surrey. Here they had no carriage ; 
no appointed servant about Mrs. Day's own person ; no 
luxury of any sort. Music, in which she was a distin- 
guished proficient, was deemed trivial. She banished her 
harpsicliord and music books. Frequent experiments upon 
her temper, and her attachment, were made by him whom 
she lived but to obey and love. Over these, we are told, 
she often wept, but never repined ; and no wife, bound in 
the strictest fetters, as to the incapacity of claiming a se- 
parate maintenance, ever made more absolute sacrifices to 
the most imperious husband than did this lady, whose in- 
dependence had been secured. SJie is even said to have 
died broken-hearted for his loss, about two years after his 
departure. 

The whole of their residence at Anningsley, however, 
was not passed in inflicting or tolerating caprice. Some of 
Mr. Day's experiments were of a moie praiseworthy kind. 
His neighbours of the lowest class, being as rough and as 
wild as the commons on which they dwelt, he tried if b}* 
mutual attrition he could not polish both ; and, though 

Vol. XL B i; 



370 D A Y. 

the event fell short of his expectation, he was not wholly 
tinsiiccessful. Many of the peasants he took to work on 
his farm, and in his selection of them it was always his 
object to accommodate those who could not find employ- 
ment elsewhere, until they could meet with some fresh 
job. But so fond were they of their new master, that they 
wanted frequently to be reminded that their stay was only 
intended to be temporary. During the winter season they 
were so numerous, that it was scarcely in the power of a 
farm of more than two hundred acres, of a family on the 
spot, and of the contiguous neighbourhood, to raise for 
them a shadow of employment from day to day. Mr. 
Day, whenever he walked out, usually conversed with 
them in the fields, and questioned them concerning their 
families. To most of them, in their turn, he sent blankets, 
corn, and butchers meat. He gave advice and medicines 
to the sick, and occasionally brought them into his kitchen 
to have their meals for a few weeks among the servants. 
Once or twice he took them into his service in the house, 
on the sole account of their bad health, a circumstance 
which by many persons would have been deemed an ample 
cause for dismission. When the cases of sickness which 
came before him were diflScult and critical, he frequently 
applied to London for regular advice; but good diet was 
often found more salutary than all the materia medica. 
Mrs. Day aided the benevolent exertions of her husband 
by employing the neighbouring poor in knitting stockings, 
which were occasionally distributed amongst the labourers. 
Mr. Day's modes and habits of life were such as the 
monotony of a rural retirement naturally brings upon a 
man of ingenuity and literary taste. To his farm he gave 
a personal attention, from the fondness which he had for 
agriculture, and from its being a source to him of health 
and amusement. It was an additional pleasure to him, 
that hence was derived employment for the poor. He had 
so high an opinion of the salutary effects of taking <xercise 
on horseback, that he erected a riiling house for the pur- 
pose of using that exercise in the roughest weather. 
Though he commonly resided in the country during the 
whole of the winter season, and was fond of sho(-ting as 
an art, he for many years totally abstained from field 
sports, apprehending them to be cruel ; but, at h^t, iioni 
the same motive of humanity, he resumed the gun. He 
rose about eight, and walked out into liis grounds soou 



DAY. 371 

after breakfast. But much of the morning, and still more 
of the afternoon, were usually passed at liis studies, or ia 
literary conversations when he was visited by his friends. 

At length, Mr. Day, who suffered no species of controul 
to interfere with whatever he fancied, or undertook, fell 
a victim to a part of his own system. He thought highly 
of the gratitude, generosity, and sensibility of horses; 
and that whenever they were disobedient, unruly, or vi- 
cious, it was owing to previous ill usage from men. Upon 
his own plan therefore he reared, fed, and tamed a fa- 
vourite foal, and when it was time it should become ser- 
viceable, disdaining to employ a horse-breaker, he would 
use it to the bit and the burthen himself. The animal, 
however, disliking his new situation, heeded not the sooth-^ 
ing voice to which he had been accustomed, but plunged, 
threw his master, and instantly killed him with a kick. 
This melancholy accident happened on Sept. 28, 1789, aS 
he was returning from Anningsley to his mother's house at 
Bare-hill, where he had left Mrs. Day. He was interred 
at Wargrave, in Berkshire, in a vault which had been built 
for the family. 

In the very flattering, and by no means just or discri- 
minative, character of Mr. Day, given in the Biographia 
Britannica, his life is represented to have been " one uni- 
form system of exertions in the cause of humanity. He 
thought nothing mis-spent or ill-bestowed, which contri- 
buted, in any degree, to the general sum of happiness. In 
his pursuit of knowledge, though he deemed it highly 
valuable as a private and personal acquisition, he had a 
particular view to the apphcation of it to the purposes of 
philanthropy. It was to be able to do good to others, as 
well as to gratify the ardent curiosity and activity of his 
own mind, that he became an ingenious mechanic, a well- 
informed chemist, a learned theoretical physician, and an 
expert constitutional lawyer. But though his comprehen- 
sive genius embraced almost the whole range of literature, 
the subjects to vvliich he was the most attached, and which he 
ret>^arded as the most eminently usetul, were those that are 
comprehended in historical and ethical science. Indeed, 
every thing was important in his eyes, not merely as it 
tended to au\unce tiie individual, but in proportion to its 
ability in disclosing the powers, and improving the general 
interests, of the human species." 

On this high character, after the facts we have exhibited, 

B B 2 



372 DAY. 

it' will not be necessary to offer any remarks. As the 
epitliet " constitutional lawyer" is here employed, it re- 
mains to be mentioned, that he was admitted of the Middle 
Temple in 1765, and called to the bar in 1779. Much of 
this time, we have seen, elapsed in his travels, and pur- 
suits "©f another kind ; nor, although his name rentained on 
the books of the society, did he ever enter seriously into 
the business of the profession. In polit*rcs he attached 
himself to no party, properly so called ; he was neither 
whig nor tory ; but joined many of the poipular associations 
about the c-lose of the American war, to which he was a 
decided opponent, and wrote some political pamphlets on 
peace, reform of parliament, and other topics which agi- 
tated the nation at that period. 

His poetical talents, if not of the first rate^ evinced 
considerable taste and elegance, but were not always 
equally usefuliy employed. His first publication, *' The 
Uying Negro," |)ublished in 1773, some part of which was 
written by his friend Mr. Bicknell, contributed its share to 
create that general abhorrence of the slave-trade which 
ended at length in the abolition of a traffic so disgraceful 
to the nation. His other poems were, " The Devoted Le- 
gions," 1776, and " The Desolation of America," 1777, 
both of the political cast. His prose effusions on national 
affairs consist of " The Letters of Marius, or reflections 
upon the Peace, the East India Bill, and the present crisis,'* 
17a4; the "Fragment of a letter on the Slavery of the 
Negroes," expressing his regret that the friends of free- 
dom in America had not learned to share that blessing with 
their slaves ; " A Dialogue between a justice of peace and 
a farmer," 1785; and *' A Letter to Arthur Young, esq. 
on the bill then depending in parliament to prevent the 
Exportation of Wool," 1788. 

The only works, however, which Mr. Day published 
that are likely to prolong his name, are those upon edu- 
cation. This was a subject in which we have already seen 
he tried some bold and ridiculous experiments. His no- 
tions, however, became at last more moderate, and his 
schemes a little more practicable. He had a particular 
diylike to the fashionable modes of education that prevail 
in this country. Youth, he thought, should be inspired 
with a hardy spirit, both of passive and active virtue, and 
led to form such habits of industry and fortitude as Anuld 
produce a manly independence of character, and a mind 



D A Y. 373 

superior to tlic enticements of luxurious indulgence. With 
this view he wrote " Tiie History of Sandtbrd and Merton," 
12uio, a work intended for the use of children ; the first 
volun^e of which appeared in 1783, the second in 1786, 
and tii.e third in I78i). These soon acquired great |)opu- 
larity, which is now on the decay. Tiiey are harudess at 
least, and amusing, although ill accommodated to the ac- 
tual state of manners. He ptd)lisl)ed also " The Histury 
of little Jack," a story, the moral of which is this simple 
truth, that " it is of very little consecjuence how a man 
comes into the world, provided he behaves well, and dis- 
cbarges his duty when he is in it." ' 

DEANE (Edmond), brother to the bishop of Ossory, 
was born at Saltonstali, in Yorkshire, in 1572. At the ao-e 
of nineteen he was entered of Mcirton collegre in Oxford, 
and having continued tlieie, and at St. Aibau's hall, until 
he was admitted doctor in medicine, he went and settled 
at York. In 1626, he published, at London, " Spada- 
crene Anglica, or the English Spaw Fountain," being a 
brief treatise of the acid or tart tountain in the forest of 
Knaresboroug.i, in Yorkshire. In a later edition, there 
are accounts of other mineral waters found in the forest. 
** Admiranda Chymica, Tractatulus, cum Figuris," Frank- 
fort, 1630, 8vo, which has been several times reprinted. 
Sam. Norton, Wood says, was esteemed half author of 
this book, there being in it some of his tracts; as " Ca- 
thL>licon physicorum," " Mercurius redivivus," dec. Deane 
is supposed to have died about the time the civil wars broke 
out, but m what year is not known." 

DE BURE. See BURE. 

DECEMBRIO (Peter Candide), a name of great cele- 
brity in the literary history of the fifteenth ceTitury, was 
born at Pavia in 1399. In his youth he was appointed 
secretary to Philip- Maria Visconti, and after the death of 
his master, while struggling for the liberties of the Mi- 
lanese, Decembrio defended the same cause with ardour, 
while there was any prospect of success; and when all 
failed, he quitted Milan for Rome, where pope Nicholas 
V. made him apostolical secretary. He returned to Milan 
about twenty years afterwards, and died there in 1477. 
According to the inscription on his monument, he com- 

' Biog. Brit. — Miss Seward's Life of Dr. Darwin, p. 17 e» seqq.— See also 
Ikliss Seward's Letters, vol. II. p. 330. 

« Alb. Ox. vol. L— Watson's Hist. «f Halifax, p. 465. 



374 D E C E M B R I O. 

posed one hundred and twenty-seven works, but few of 
these appear to be known. The two principal are the hves 
of Philip-Maria Visconti, and Francis Sforza, both dukes 
of Milan. Muratori has inserted them in his Script. Rer. 
Ital. vol, XX. In the first he has imitated the style and 
manner of Suetonius with considerable success. The se- 
cond is in hexameter verse, but his facts are more interest- 
ing than his poetry. His other printed works are treatises 
on different subjects; Latin and Italian poems, several 
translations, particularly of Appian and Q-uintus Curtius 
into Italian, &c. It is much to be regretted that his Let- 
ters, which are in several of the Italian libraries, have not 
been published, as they might throw great light on the 
literary and political history of his age.' 

DECHALES (Claudius Francis Millet), an excel- 
lent mathematician, mechanic, and astronomer, was born 
at Chamberry, the capital of Savoy, in 1611; and de- 
scended from a noble family, which had produced several 
persons creditably distinguished in the church, the law, and 
the army. He was a great master in all the parts of the 
mathematics, and printed several books on that subject, 
which were very well received. His principal performances 
are, an edition of Euclid's Elements, where he has struck 
out the unserviceable propositions, and annexed the use 
to those he has preserved ; a discourse of fortification ; 
and another of navigation. These performances, with 
some others, were first collected into three volumes in 
folio, under the title of " Mundus Mathematicus," com- 
prising a very ample course of mathematics. The first 
volume includes the first six books of Euclid, with the 
eleventh and twelfth; an arithmetical tract ; Theodosius's 
spherics ; trigonometry ; practical geometry ; mechanics ; 
statics; universal geography; a discourse upon the load- 
stone ; civil architecture, and the carpenter's art. The 
second volume furnishes directions for stone-cutting ; mi- 
litary architecture ; hydrostatics; a discourse of fountains 
and rivers ; hydraulic machines, or contrivances for water- 
works ; navigation ; optics ; perspective ; catoptrics, and 
dioptrics. The third volume has in it a discourse of music ; 
pyrotechnia, or the operations of fire and furnace ; a dis- 
course of the use of the astrolabe; gnomonics, or the art 

* Tiraboschi. — Ginguene Hist. Lit. d'ltalie. — Fabiic. Bibl, Lat. Med.— 
Saxii Oaomast — Moreri, 



D E C H A L E S. 375 

of dialling ; astronomy ; a tract upon the calendar ; astro- 
logy ; algebra; the method of indivisible and conic sec- 
tions. Tiie best edition of this work is that of Lyons, 
printed in 1690; which is more correct than the first, is 
considerably enlarged, and makes four vols, in folio. De* 
chales, though not abounding in discoveries of i)is own, it 
yet allowed to have made a very good use of those of other 
men, and to have drawn the several parts of the science 
of mathematics together with gr^at clearness and judg- 
ment. It is said also, that his probity was not interior to 
his learning, and that both these qualities made him gene- 
rally admired and beloved at Paris; where for four years 
together he read public mathematical lectures in the col- 
lege of Clermont. He then removed to Marseilles, -^vhere 
he taught the art of navigation ; and afterwards became 
professor of mathematics in the university of Turin, where 
he died March 28, 1678, aged 67.' 

DECIUS, or DKCIO (Philip), a jurist, who, according to 
Tirabos. hi, attained greater fame during his lifetiian abler 
men after their death, was born in 1453 at Milan, and is 
said to have been the natural aon of one of the dukes of Mi- 
lan, but this seems doubtful. He studied law at Pavia under 
his brother Lancelot, who was professor in that university, 
and on his removal to Pisa, Philip accompanied him, and 
continued his studies under Barth. Socinus, Philip Cor- 
neus, and others. In 1476 he received his doctor's decree, 
and soon after was appointed one of the university profes^ 
sors, in which he distinguished hitnself by his art in dispu- 
ting, which he appears to have practised with so little re- 
spect for his seniors as to create him many enemies, and 
render his life a life of contest with his brethren. In the 
mean time his popularity was augmented by the respect 
paid to him by kings and popes, of all which he was in full 
enjoyment, when he died at Sienna in 1536. Of his works, 
none of which appear to have perpetuated his fame, the 
most considerable are his " Consilia," Venice, 1581, 2 vols, 
fol.; and " De regulis juris," ibid. fol. ' 

DECKER, or DECKHKR (John), a pious and learned 
Jesuit, was born about 1559, at Hazebruck in Flanders, 
and taught philosophy and scholastic theology at Douay, 
and afterwards at Louvain. He was then sent on an em- 
bassy into Stiria, and became chancellor of the university 

» Moreri & Diet. Hist, in Chales. 

* CJcn. Diet.— Tiraboschi.— Moreii,— Dupin.— Saxii Onom»3t, 



376 DECKER. 

ofGratz, where he died in 1 6 19, aged 69. His principal 
work treats of the year of the birth and of the death of 
Christ. It is entitled, " Velificatio, seu theoremata de 
?innp ortCis ac mortis Domini ; cum tabula chronographica,, 
4 capta per Pumpeium lerosolyma, ad deletani a Tito 
■urbem;'' Gratz, 1606, 4to. He was a man of profound 
erudition, and had acquired great skill in chronology.' 

DECKER (Thomas), a dramatic writer of very little 
value, flourished in the reign of James I. The exact pe- 
riods of his birth and decease are not ascertained ; but he 
could not have died young, as his earliest play bears date 
1600, and his latest 1637. Mr. Oldys thinks that he was 
living in 1638, and that he was in the King's-bench prison 
from 1613 to 1616, or longer. It is supposed he had ac- 
quired reputation even in the time of queen Elizabeth, 
whose decease and funeral he commemorates in his " Won- 
derful Year," 1603. He was contemporary with Ben Jon- 
son, with whom he quarrelled. Of this we have usually 
had the following account : that ** Jonson, who certainly 
could never ^bear a rival near the throne,' has, in his 

♦ Poetaster,' the Dunciad of that author, among many 
other ppets whom he has satirised, been peculiarly severe 
on Decker, whom he has characterised under the name of 
Crispinus. This compliment Decker has amply repaid in his 

* Satyromastiijj, or the iintrussing a humourous Poet,' in 
which, under the title of young Horace, he has made 
Ben the hero of his piece." The provocation, however, 
on the part of Jonson is completely overthrown by Mr. 
Gilchrist, whose accurate research has established the fact 
that the Crispinus of Jonson was not Pecker, but Marston, 
In the Biog. Diamaticais a long list of forgotten plays by 
Decker; and his " Gull's Horpbook," 9, scarce little tract 
by him, was elegantly and cu^tflusly reprinted in 1813.^^ 

DE COURCY (Richard), vicar of St. Alkmond's parish, 
Shrewsbury, was a native of Ireland, and descended from 
a very ancient and respectable family in that country, being 
distantly related to the family of lord Kinsale, to whom he 
was ordained chaplain. He was educated at Trinity col- 
lege, Dublin ; and his acquaintance with several eminent 
clergymen brought him to England. In 1770 he accepted 
the curacy of Shavvbury in Shropshire, of which the rev, 

^ Moreri. — Foppcn Bibl. Belg. 

9 Cibber's Lives.— Philips's Th^atrnm, new edit.— Warton's Hist, of Poetry j 
see Index. — Preface to the new editioa of the Cfull's Hornbook, 



D E C O U R C Y. 377 

Mr. Stillingfleet was rector.